Using an institutional perspective, I analyze the historic circumstances surrounding the shift from a management as a vocation model to one that is scientifically based. I argue that prior to World War II, the management education field was fragmented but dominated by a vocational model in which specific trade practices and skills were taught. I trace how the institutional field shifted to embrace a model of management education that was tightly linked to empirical research. Using the Academy of Management Journal articles as a marker for this paradigm shift, I test hypotheses about the diffusion pattern of science-based concepts of management education.
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