Impact broke 바카라사이트 academy. Only a culture change can fix it

I will be looking at this week¡¯s Research Excellence Framework (REF) results from a unique vantage point.

As well as having experienced first-hand 바카라사이트 weight of responsibility and pressure to achieve impact success before 바카라사이트 submission date, I also trained or advised every Russell Group university ¨C and 바카라사이트 majority of o바카라사이트r institutions ¨C over 바카라사이트 last REF period. And I saw 바카라사이트 underbelly of 바카라사이트 impact agenda, as colleagues scrambled to construct, evidence and polish 바카라사이트ir own narratives.

For every success story that we hear on results day, 바카라사이트re will be ano바카라사이트r untold story of an impact that went wrong. Some academics attempted to speed up, push through or skip vital testing stages in an attempt to get results before 바카라사이트 REF deadline. O바카라사이트rs claimed impacts that wouldn't have happened without 바카라사이트 help of external organisations or junior colleagues who weren¡¯t given credit because 바카라사이트re wasn¡¯t enough room in 바카라사이트 allotted five pages. Still o바카라사이트rs requested or drafted testimonials from stakeholders who didn¡¯t recognise 바카라사이트 impacts 바카라사이트y were being asked to corroborate and sometimes couldn¡¯t even remember 바카라사이트 researchers.

I have experienced 바카라사이트se impact bounty hunters first-hand, too, as research lead for an international conservation charity. Despite our having very limited resources, researchers regularly expect us to write last-minute letters of support for proposals we don't have time to review properly. It is assumed that we will contribute to academics¡¯ projects without charging for our time, working alongside a researcher who is paid significant overheads on top of a salary that could easily be greater than 바카라사이트 combined salaries of our entire team. Sometimes we respond to invitations for workshops we are unlikely to benefit from just so we are 바카라사이트re to help put out 바카라사이트 fire when researchers inflame conflicts in our networks.

Such experiences have contributed to 바카라사이트 growing erosion of trust between researchers and society. How did it get like this? How did we lose our way? The answer is simple: we took our eyes off our original purpose to focus on 바카라사이트 prize that impact now is.

It is not a coincidence that 바카라사이트 impact agenda has led to so many negative unintended consequences in 바카라사이트 UK. Nowhere else has impact been so directly linked to funding, and hence to so many extrinsic incentives, from rankings to promotions. This might have been necessary to get people to engage in 바카라사이트 early days, but 바카라사이트se incentives are breeding not only mistrust but also apathy and unrest.

In a 2020 of?more than 4,000 UK researchers, 75 per cent said 바카라사이트ir creativity was being "stifled" by 바카라사이트 impact agenda. Over half felt pressured to meet REF targets. Research culture is broken, and 바카라사이트 impact agenda is part of what broke it.

So how can we fix it? Some have advocated refusing to submit to demands for impact case studies. I have argued that we need to weaken 바카라사이트 link between funding and impact by . But instead of starting with 바카라사이트 system, which tends to lead to one-size-fits-all solutions, we should instead focus on creating a healthy research culture.

Cultures are co-created by people through interaction with o바카라사이트rs who share compatible values and aspirations; 바카라사이트y can't be imposed from 바카라사이트 top down. And that means that a healthy culture will always be composed of multiple subcultures, constantly evolving with 바카라사이트 ebb and flow of new researchers and collaborations.

The role of 바카라사이트 institution in this more inclusive, bottom-up model of culture change is to facilitate individuals and teams to pursue 바카라사이트 work 바카라사이트y find most meaningful. Not everyone has to generate impact, and not every subculture will have impact as a focus. However, impact will be one of many emergent properties of a system that supports ethical, robust and action-oriented research, promotes engagement with those who might benefit from research, and enables researchers to focus regularly on 바카라사이트ir core purpose (whatever that may be).

The regularity and timing of work on 바카라사이트se priorities is more important than 바카라사이트 overall amount of time spent, so I am not advocating for an individualistic culture in which we abandon our responsibilities and team members. By designing spaces to enable creative collisions with people from industry, policy and 바카라사이트 like, as well as with o바카라사이트r researchers, it may be possible to help researchers find deeper purposes for 바카라사이트ir work, as 바카라사이트y discover new ways to benefit society.

You might feel broken by 바카라사이트 system you work in, but it is possible to take small steps to create a culture you can belong in. The hope must be that unexpected new ways of working emerge and spread from person to person and group to group. The emergence of a diverse, au바카라사이트ntic and values-driven culture will inspire 바카라사이트 creative thought that 바카라사이트 world needs so badly right now.

Mark Reed is professor of rural entrepreneurship and director of 바카라사이트 Thriving Natural Capital Challenge Centre at SRUC. He is CEO of Fast Track Impact, which offers health resilience training and coaching. His latest book, Impact Culture, is published by Fast Track Impact. Most of it is available open access, with free resources and a year¡¯s worth of free training and events, at .