How to Construct an Organizational Field: Empirical Educational Research in Germany, 1995–2015

Over the past two decades, educational research in Germany has undergone unprecedented
changes. Following large-scale assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and
a political interest in evidence-based policy-making, quality assessment and internationalization,
direct involvement of national decision-makers has led to the establishment of new organizations,
programs, funding structures, professorships, and training programs. Thus, a markedly different
educational research field has emerged in contrast to the traditional philosophy-rooted,
hermeneutics-trained and humanities-based German pedagogy or education science. Instead,
the new paradigm refers to itself as "empirical educational research" (EER). Thus, we trace
institutionalization processes of EER from early 1995 through the foundation of the Empirical
Educational Research Association (GEBF), which rivals the long-standing German Educational
Research Association (DGfE). Official documents shed light on policymakers’ and funding agencies’
motivations and rationales as they successfully engage in building new research infrastructure.
Expert interviews conducted with (inter)national representatives illuminate perceptions of
crucial actors involved in field institutionalization. What are the causes and consequences of the
emergent educational research in Germany? Extending the neo-institutionalist organizational field
literature, particularly about incipient stages of such fields, we show that a new division of labor
transcends national and international as well as governmental and non-governmental borders.