A View from the Foothills: Public Engagement among Early Career Researchers
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12010 |
| Author | Lee Savage |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
A View from the Foothills: Public Engagement
among Early Career Researchers
Lee Savage
King’s College London
This article argues that the incentives to spend time and resources engaging with non-academic groups are largely
absent for early career researchers, who are usually focused on acquiring the essential elements of a good academic
CV, namely publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals, gaining teaching experience and presenting papers at
disciplinary conferences.As a result, early career researchers have little reason to undertake training in how to engage
with non-academic groups, and institutions have no reason to make such training integral to a researcher’s
professional development. However, a survey of early career researchers in the UK conducted for this article shows
that there is a definite appetite among researchers to undertake public engagement activities. But if public
engagement is to become a routine part of a researcher’s activities then the weight that potential employers afford
to these endeavours needs to increase substantially.
Keywords: early career; PhD; relevance; professional development
The recently revived debate on the relevance of political science in the UK has offered
the discipline the opportunity to define its purpose and perhaps reassess the way in which
political scientists engage with non-academic users of research and the wider public. It is
a welcome debate in the context of the UK where discussions of the wider relevance of
political science research occur less frequently than, for example, in North American
political science (Monroe, 2005; Putnam, 2003; Smith, 2002; Trent, 2011).
The debate has become even more important in light of changes to the way in which
higher education and research funding will be distributed. The changes to higher edu-
cation funding will require every discipline to demonstrate its worth. As a discipline,
political science needs to be able to say with certainty what it does and how it contributes
to the health and/or wealth of the nation if it is to continue to compete effectively in an
ever more straitened research funding environment.
On a personal level, the revived debate occurs at a time when I am just beginning an
academic career and it has stirred me to reflect on the specific challenges faced by new
researchers who wish to generate impact from, or interest in, their research among
non-academic communities. New researchers do not have the advantages of more estab-
lished academics who carry accumulated experience, the authority of a senior position
(maybe the title of ‘Professor’) and established networks of contacts. How, then, can early
career researchers attempt to find an audience for their research outside academia? And
even if they can find a non-academic audience, should they? These questions are vital for
early career researchers, particularly with the g reater importance being given to the
impact criteria in g rant applications to the main funding body for political science
research in the UK, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Researchers
will need to become practised at generating impact for their research, however broadly
POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW: 2013 VOL 11, 190–199
doi: 10.1111/1478-9302.12010
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© 2013 TheAuthor. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
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