20 years of critical HRD scholarship development: citation and authorship network analysis

Appreciating the contribution of critical human resource development (CHRD) scholarship to raise critical perspectives and practices in HRD, this study explored the development of CHRD scholarship over 20 years (2003–2022) using social network analysis (SNA), particularly focusing on analysing citation and authorship networks in CHRD journal articles. In doing so, this study identified influential CHRD authors, articles, and the structure of CHRD authorship communities–eight connected core groups and many disconnected periphery groups. Further, the CHRD authorship networks were explored and visualised on a five-year basis. The analysis results identified that particular core members, largely White women scholars working in the US or UK, led the CHRD scholarship. Also, community groupings and each community’s key themes were found to be related to the national locations of the authors’ affiliated institutions. Additionally, this study found a recent shift of CHRD scholarship towards smaller, more cohesive communities within the larger network. Based on the findings, this study provides theoretical and practical implications and concludes with a call for building inclusive CHRD scholarship networks.