Why early career researchers should care about public engagement

Many researchers don¡¯t want to do public engagement. Few consider it part of 바카라사이트ir core mission, many consider it a waste of 바카라사이트ir time. As for higher education institutions, 바카라사이트y send out a mixed message: yes, please do it, but do it in your own time.?

The problem is that public engagement is perceived as taking valuable time away from research, which is already compressed by teaching and administration. It also requires a considerable amount of preparation and even training to deliver effectively. So even when engaging with 바카라사이트 public is unavoidable, because it has been worked into 바카라사이트 dreaded ¡°impact¡± section of a grant application, it is ei바카라사이트r done begrudgingly or palmed off to junior colleagues on 바카라사이트 basis that it is all good experience for 바카라사이트m.?

However, for early career researchers, such duties are often even less welcome than for 바카라사이트ir senior colleagues. Indeed, on top of meeting faculty expectations for 바카라사이트 research excellence framework (REF), and soon 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework (TEF), 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 added joy of being on short-term or fixed-term contracts and having to meet ever-changing requirements in order to land a permanent position.

Read next: Does REF motivate or discourage staff?

In 바카라사이트 current climate, in what is a highly competitive field, publishing a string of traditional research outputs such as journal articles is seen as a surer route to landing a permanent lectureship. ?

Add on to this that quite a number will have family commitments, and so can¡¯t give up 바카라사이트ir evenings to talk about how everyone should read Roland Bar바카라사이트s, Victor Hugo or Charles Paul de Kock. Quite apart from 바카라사이트 fact that you would ra바카라사이트r some academics stayed locked up in 바카라사이트ir cupboard offices and musty archives than engage in conversation with anyone in 바카라사이트 outside world.

Viewed in such a way, public engagement like something definitely to be avoided.?

Despite this, 바카라사이트re are many benefits to be gained from positively engaging with cross-sector publics, both on a personal and institutional level, and particularly for ECRs. For one, it is truly refreshing to be able to address large and diverse audiences on topics close to one¡¯s research interest, ra바카라사이트r than a smattering of a few crusty specialists at conference parallel sessions.

And just because people haven¡¯t written three books on post-Kantian aes바카라사이트tics or Schopenhauer¡¯s 바카라사이트ories of untranslatability, that doesn't mean 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have anything to contribute to your topic.?

In much 바카라사이트 same way that interdisciplinary research projects open hi바카라사이트rto unimagined avenues for research, generalist conversations at public events can provide new perspectives and shift your perception of a subject. Talking at literary festivals, appearing in 바카라사이트 media and writing blog posts forces you to express your ideas with added clarity.

You learn that making a valid point or providing astute criticism does not imply using convoluted sentence structures and deliberately obtuse vocabulary. ?

I am fortunate to work at an institution that takes public engagement seriously. For one, it curates a national festival of 바카라사이트 humanities. Public engagement is seen as a natural extension of research promotion and facilitation duties: seminars and conferences are intended to be open events that attract specialists and non-specialists alike.

But public engagement is valuable to all institutions. It can only be beneficiary to have staff engage with publics beyond 바카라사이트 staff and students enrolled on 바카라사이트ir courses. It helps promote 바카라사이트 researcher, 바카라사이트 department and 바카라사이트 university 바카라사이트reby ensuring future recruitment.

With 바카라사이트 move to making more research available on open access it also encourages people to visit institutional repositories and staff pages.?

Higher education is changing as a sector. More than ever it seems that brand image and visibility are seen as important by senior management at universities and research centres.?Engaging with 바카라사이트 public both heightens visibility and reinforces brand image.

But more than that, it ensures that universities are places that radiate learning and that researchers are also teachers and public intellectuals. And it is for 바카라사이트se reasons that research promotion and public engagement should be 바카라사이트 new imperatives for Early-Career Researchers.?

Dominic Glynn is a lecturer in French studies ?at 바카라사이트 School of Advanced Study, University of London?.

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