A study has?identified a disconnect between?researchers who study higher education and those who manage higher education institutions, with a lack of communication potentially hampering both sides.?
Over three years, researchers from the? in Germany surveyed and interviewed managers and scholars, examining the degree to which managers employed the “diverse insights generated by science and higher education research”.
“Keeping in touch and transferring knowledge between science and higher education research and higher education management is really beneficial for both sides,” said study co-author Nicolas Reum.
“Scientific results and data in general help decision-makers in developing their higher education institutions and manage current changes and transformations in this sector,” he said, while for those studying the field, “the input from higher education practice and the applicability of their findings help in keeping science and higher education research relevant”.
The study authors determined that managers did place a high value on higher education research, with more than 60 per cent describing scientific evidence as “very important” or “predominantly important” to their work. However, almost 60 per cent say they only consulted research findings on a once-monthly or even less frequent basis, with insufficient time and a lack of familiarity with methods of transferring research commonly cited obstacles.
While researchers typically publish in academic journals and books, the authors found, higher education managers are more likely to consult practice-oriented journals, newsletters, conference inputs and social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
“I was surprised by how little especially higher education managers know about the research field that has them, among others, as the subject,” Reum told 51吃瓜. Equally, he added: “it was surprising how rarely researchers address higher education management directly, although their research questions often deal with topics that are highly relevant for higher education management”.
The CHE researchers set out a series of recommendations to improve the transfer of research findings to higher education management. For instance, Reum said that “researchers should strive to use more transfer communication channels that are easily accessible for people that are not in the centre of the scientific community” – such as LinkedIn.
Researchers should also take care to “translate their complex findings for such an audience”, he added, by “keeping results concise, using language that is easy to follow, and keeping it short”. They should also seek opportunities to involve managers in their research, perhaps in “finding relevant questions or verifying and testing results”.
Research funding organisations should incentivise scholars to improve knowledge transfer, the CHE researchers said, while research institutions should factor transfer activities into career progression criteria.
Higher education managers, Reum said, must be “open to research findings”, while senior leaders should “give their co-workers the opportunity, time and resources to deal with scientific findings in their jobs and encourage them to use the recommendations and data provided there”.
“Every higher education manager should consider this a part of their daily job,” he stressed.
Better networking opportunities between researchers and managers, such as regular conferences and workshops, could further improve knowledge transfer, the authors noted. “I think that both sides need to be more open towards one another and getting into contact more,” Reum said.
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