Department of Education
CRESJ PhD research in the news
Posted on 14 March 2016
Research by CRESJ PhD student Jenn Chubb has featured in news stories on either side of the globe.
Her article, 'Artifice or integrity in the marketization of research impact', was published recently in the leading journal Studies in Higher Education. Co-authored with Richard Watermeyer of the University of Bath, it reported on an aspect of Jenn's doctoral research involving interviews with 50 academics in the UK and Australia. The study probed their behaviour and attitude in relation to increasing requirements for researchers to demonstrate the social and economic 'impact' of their work. They have published a summary of their findings in online magazine The Conversation.
Commenting on the obligation to specify the impact of proposed research in advance, many interviewees reported concerns that where the impact was not immediately obvious, impact claims would need to embellished in order to win funding. This left scholars feeling compelled to make exaggerated claims in their grant applications. Similar reactions were reported in both the UK and Australia. This left scholars feeling that their personal integrity was being compromised and that research agendas were being distorted.
The article has been covered in the UK by Times Higher Education and in several outlets in Australia. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation ran an article and a radio feature on the topic, and there were features on MSN Network Australia and the Campus Morning Mail.
Jenn's research falls under CRESJ's Higher Education stream.