How are UK Academics Engaging the Public with their Research? A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective

This paper takes a cross‐disciplinary perspective in examining the views and practices of public engagement with research by UK academics. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a survey questionnaire and interviews, the paper identifies the range of audience groups that can potentially be enga...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education quarterly 2016-04, Vol.70 (2), p.145-169
Main Authors: Chikoore, Lesley, Probets, Steve, Fry, Jenny, Creaser, Claire
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audiences
Broadcasting
College Faculty
Dues and fees
Foreign Countries
Higher education
Information dissemination
Interdisciplinary Approach
Interdisciplinary aspects
Mass media
Mixed Methods Research
Public relations
Public services
Questionnaires
School Community Relationship
Social networks
Surveys
Teacher Researchers
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper takes a cross‐disciplinary perspective in examining the views and practices of public engagement with research by UK academics. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a survey questionnaire and interviews, the paper identifies the range of audience groups that can potentially be engaged with by academics, and shows that some audiences are more relevant to particular disciplinary groups than others. The paper also identifies the various public engagement activities undertaken by academics and finds that some academics are using creative ways of engaging the public, such as using the services of public relations firms to help in disseminating their research in traditional media outlets, and also by using social media. Essentially, the study reveals that some academics feel the pressure of engaging particular audiences at the expense of those that are relevant to them and that, academics in the main, are opposed to the notion of mandating public engagement as part of appraisal systems.
ISSN:0951-5224
1468-2273
DOI:10.1111/hequ.12088