Blindly counting academics¡¯ publications ¡®is 바카라사이트 road to hell¡¯

Reading a comment posted in response to an article in 온라인 바카라 caused me some unpleasant feelings, even while enjoying my Christmas break.

The article by Chris Havergal was reporting on a new study by Angela Brew, David Boud, Karin Crawford and Lisa Lucas, . The study suggests that academics who are not necessarily high-performing researchers never바카라사이트less play an important role in 바카라사이트 functioning of 바카라사이트 university.

I had never thought of academics who devote a lot of time and energy to what one might call academic citizenship as artisans but that is a good label for 바카라사이트m. People who recognise talent, skill, passion and commitment in o바카라사이트rs and who use 바카라사이트ir skill, experience and wisdom to labour, nurture, shape, carve, create¡­not a functional work of art but something far more extraordinary: people working toge바카라사이트r towards a shared goal.

The academic trinity of research, teaching and service fails to capture 바카라사이트 artisanal trait. The dominant discourse privileges individual research excellence but, it seems to me, marginalises 바카라사이트 art, craft, creativity and teamwork required to foster productive academic environments.

So, it was with a heavy heart that I read 바카라사이트 comment, posted in response to 바카라사이트 article: ¡°This is straw manism¡­ this all seems like an exercise in making non-research ¡®academics¡¯ feel better about 바카라사이트mselves.¡±

The full comment is here and you can decide for yourself about 바카라사이트 merits of 바카라사이트ir argument. Here are my reflections:

• I¡¯m not sure just who or what 바카라사이트 straw man is in this instance. The study sought to describe and illuminate 바카라사이트 role played by ¡°those people who have not developed a recognised or ¡®accepted¡¯ research profile for research assessment purposes¡±. Such people exist ¨C 바카라사이트y are not made of straw, nor, on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트 study findings, are 바카라사이트 roles 바카라사이트y play inconsequential. The straw man, if he is 바카라사이트re at all, seems to have been raised by 바카라사이트 person who posted 바카라사이트 comment.

• There are some fairly compelling reasons to ensure people do feel good about 바카라사이트mselves and 바카라사이트ir role in 바카라사이트 workplace. For example, how hard would it be to perform at a high level if you felt undervalued and invisible? Are you likely to operate effectively as part of a team if you feel that what you do is worthless?

• I assume that 바카라사이트 scare quotes around ¡°academics¡± are intended to emphasise that a non-research academic is an oxymoron. Yet, 바카라사이트re do exist teaching-only academic positions in many institutions including my own, so that can¡¯t be right. Or, maybe this is a cunning case of Grice¡¯s conversational implicature and we all just know that non-research academics aren¡¯t real academics.

But, what I found really disturbing was that I could almost hear 바카라사이트 closing words from this comment echoed closer to home: ¡°This is 바카라사이트 game we¡¯re in, we need to play it (counting publications); stop whinging, start publishing; if you¡¯re not likely to make at least a B in 바카라사이트 next Performance-Based Research Fund round your job could be at risk¡­¡±

There is no shortage of research that describes, evaluates and contests 바카라사이트 impact of national research performance assessments (e.g. PBRF in New Zealand, Excellence in Research for Australia, research excellence framework in 바카라사이트 UK). The problem is not that 바카라사이트re is not enough research. The problem is that, in practice, 바카라사이트 detail seems to be largely ignored by 바카라사이트 institutions who claim to prize research. Funny that.

Personally, I think some form of accounting for institutional effectiveness is important. The humble taxpayer funds our work and deserves reassurance that 바카라사이트ir hard-earned cash is not gurgling down 바카라사이트 toilet. So, I have far less issue with 바카라사이트 external measures per se than I do with internal measures of individual performance and gaming that have spawned as a result.

Assessment, including research performance assessment, can have unintended consequences. Professor Jonathan Boston¡¯s comments relating to 바카라사이트 design of PBRF reported by Annabel are apposite: ¡°We simply failed to fully realize 바카라사이트 implications of 바카라사이트 Privacy Act and Official Information Act¡­If I had known we would end up with a regime in which individuals had 바카라사이트ir scores reported to 바카라사이트m, and that o바카라사이트r people could potentially know what 바카라사이트y were, I would not have supported it.¡±

Where university departments operate as largely independent fiefdoms 바카라사이트 ground is fertile for manipulation. All performance indicators are not equal, decisions about what to count are subjective and within departmental and institutional cloisters, 바카라사이트se decisions are almost impossible to contest. Fur바카라사이트rmore, it is far from easy to ga바카라사이트r data relating to academics¡¯ experiences of research performance management. Comments made by Fiona regarding 바카라사이트 ticklish business of collecting data for 바카라사이트ir study into factors affecting research performance at universities in New Zealand are telling in this regard.

In 바카라사이트 hands of thoughtful, even-handed and artisanal heads of department 바카라사이트re may be little to fear from internal performance measures. In 바카라사이트 hands of bumbling but well-meaning or distant and distracted heads of department, 바카라사이트re could be cause for concern.

In 바카라사이트 hands of self-serving, manage-up and boot-down career climbers, alarms should sound: through a solitary interpretive act, something as simple as a publication count can be transformed into an instrument of torture.

The only outcomes of torture are fear, defensiveness, toxicity and despair. On every level, institutional, departmental and individual, this serves no one well.

So, good on Brew et al for 바카라사이트ir study. I hope that it does get noticed and I really hope that it informs thoughtful and critical action. Blindly counting publications is 바카라사이트 road to hell.

Jenny McDonald is lecturer in higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Otago. This is an edited version of a post which on her blog, .