Academics often refer to the notion of “research culture”. It is one of the most often talked about research issues but is rarely defined. What do we mean when we talk about research culture?
Culture is defined most often by the unwritten norms and values of a group or nation. The institutional structures provide a framework for those norms and values. In relation to research culture, the norms and values should support the conduct of research. So people should expect to conduct research, to hold it in high esteem, to practice it on a regular basis and to talk about it on a daily basis. It has to be seen as core business within a research intensive university and it requires top management support.
Is this enough to become a top research institution? Probably not! It also needs an aspirational side to it, targets and goals, a striving for quality, a striving for improvement, a striving for breakthroughs… the list goes on.
It is not easy to transform a university but research is a powerful way of doing it. Given the challenges, it is little wonder that although most universities talk about developing their research culture, they make little progress.
www.CompletePhD.com
Culture is defined most often by the unwritten norms and values of a group or nation. The institutional structures provide a framework for those norms and values. In relation to research culture, the norms and values should support the conduct of research. So people should expect to conduct research, to hold it in high esteem, to practice it on a regular basis and to talk about it on a daily basis. It has to be seen as core business within a research intensive university and it requires top management support.
Is this enough to become a top research institution? Probably not! It also needs an aspirational side to it, targets and goals, a striving for quality, a striving for improvement, a striving for breakthroughs… the list goes on.
It is not easy to transform a university but research is a powerful way of doing it. Given the challenges, it is little wonder that although most universities talk about developing their research culture, they make little progress.
www.CompletePhD.com
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My current employer remains locked in a struggle with the concept of a reearch culture. Following the thought of culture as unwritten or uncodified concepts and ideals that are transmitted through the use of language and embedded in practices and routines, I can see much of the problem.
ReplyDeleteVery few faculty at my current employer say the word, research, out load. They defer to the more generic, less specific term, scholarship. I find this inability to say the word research eerily reminiscent of Fonzi's, a television character on a 1970s sit-com, inability to say the word, wrong. While the sit-com writers used the language hindrance to good comedic effect, I find it maddening because I identify myself as a researcher. Our failure to use the proper term indicates an unwillingness to engage in and support of research
We cannot do what we cannot say.
This does seem a weird situation but I can believe it. Research as an activity requires resources (time and money) and recognition and rewards. Using the term scholarhip which can be applied to teaching doesn't require dedicated resources.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your frustration as it is impossible to change the norms and values on your own.