Cultural History of Institutional Research Activities: A Socio- Technical Systems Perspective Kate Crawford and Helen Hasan University of Wollongong

Overview Cultural historical experience (cultural, organizational and disciplinary) shape research and ultimately knowledge University organization creates tensions for multidisciplinary research and research partnerships in the community During periods of rapid societal change multi- disciplinary research is strategic to support sustainable innovation Changes in organizational structure are needed to encourage multidisciplinary and community partnerships for applied research and knowledge exchanges

Cultural Historical Systems Each research environment has it’s own cultural history and reward system and these shape research, and the resulting knowledge, in unintended ways Organizational stakeholders (with differing ‘objects’, roles, beliefs, and expectations) also shape emergent research activity Tensions, arising from differing cultural historical experiences, are particularly evident in multidisciplinary research Community based trends in the digital age are towards multi-stakeholder based collaboration, innovation, and adaptation There are tensions between these new societal developments and the competitive structures shaping university based research

Research Activity Government Funding and policy for research Discipline based cultural history (evolved research methods, competitive strategies for grants) Organizational administration (pressures from regulation and administrative power structures and related compliance) Competitive academic career pathways (patterns of peer recognition) Competitive Cultural Historical Context For Research

Emerging digital cultures Pressures for rapid innovation Community Rapid economic transitions Increased mobility/volatility University Based Research Activity Cycles Applied Research With Community Partnerships More accessible information Rapid prototyping and testing University Research in a Community Context

Collaborative Research for Academic Careers: Tensions and Change Current structures support competition based activity and create tensions between stakeholder ‘objects’, and reduced engagement between researchers and society "Part of the objective of rethinking our measurement systems is to generate a national and global dialogue on what we care about, whether what we are striving for is achieving what we care about, and whether this is reflected in our metrics" From Measuring Production to Measuring Well-being, Joseph E. Stiglitz,Presentation to the Productivity Commission, Melbourne, July 29, 2010 Organizational change in the recognition criteria for researchers would enable collaboration and innovation Our research suggests that collaborative team work is the basis of creative and sustainable innovation

Evolving From A Shared Position University based research activity Community based activity evolving needs, knowledge- exchange systems, mobility, networked technology, finance, governance etc Collaborative Activity Shared Responsibility to solve problems

Findings of a research project Title: “Appreciating, Measuring and Incentivising Discipline Diversity: Meaningful Indicators of Collaboration in Research” Abstract “Inter-disciplinary collaborative research is generally believed to lead to innovative outcomes in areas that may be missed in research studies based in a single discipline. However, currently available research performance indicators, based on scholarly peer- reviewed publications and citations from a single discipline, do little to recognise the merits of collaborative and inter-disciplinary research.”