Beyond economic definitions of research impact

Following a recent visit to South Africa and the SARIMA conference, in this blog Saskia reflects on the vibrant research culture in the region and definitions of research impact beyond economic growth. 

Ever since I attended the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) conference hosted in South Africa in 2023 I have wanted to know more about research, research support and in particular my passion, research impact, on the African continent. This year I was fortunate enough to return to South Africa, this time attending the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) conference in Stellenbosch. 

The overarching take away is just how much there is to discover and understand about the varied research ecosystems in Africa. I am not even near to scratching the surface. There is a real sense of vibrancy and opportunity balanced against a variety of resource and socio-economic and structural challenges that makes progress hard going. The research managers I met and listened to at the SARIMA conference are an essential part of the ecosystem needed to build sustainable research systems and environments for African research to grow and thrive. I met many dedicated individuals, many of whom are pioneers in their institutions, and everyday are proving the worth of their contribution to advancing research and knowledge exchange. 

Impact was a word used frequently at the conference. I sometimes dislike the word because it has so many meanings. At the conference there many instances of ‘impact’ used in reference to industrial and technological innovation to fuel economic growth.  This is an essential component of research impact. But I’ll admit it is social impact that really piques my interest. This may stem from back in the early 2000s when impact was first introduced into the UK research policy space. At the time I was working at the Economic and Social Research Council (now part of UK Research and Innovation). The message that came out of government originally was very much shaped around economic definitions of impact. I recall that the ESRC and the Arts and Humanities research councils worked hard to widen the definition of impact to include social and cultural impact as also a valuable ROI.  

As the impact conversation has matured in the UK it is now commonplace to understand ‘research impact’ as shorthand for not simply an exercise that ends in a REF impact case study, but part of a complex culture shift in how research is conceived, conducted and applied in the world.  

One of the presentations at SARIMA that really resonated with me was that from Professor Abdulkarim Oloyede, University of Ilorin in Nigeria entitled ‘Beyond Citations’. He recounted his efforts within his institution to develop a new professional recognition framework that acknowledges and rewards individuals’ community engagement activities outside of the academy. This seemed to me a positive step in trying to embed an understanding of the academic mission that is socially grounded and not just in thrall to traditional measures of academic success. Professor Oloyede is fired up by what he sees as the damaging influence of global rankings that apply blanket criteria to define what a successful HE institution is, regardless of context or geography. He gave an example of a university decision to abandon a scheme to recruit Nigerian diaspora academics back to Nigerian HE despite there being a shortage of academics in public universities, because this policy didn’t align with ranking metrics that favour international scholars as a mark of prestige. I very much appreciated Professor Oloyede’s campaign as it demonstrates a desire to formally recognise the full mission of academic research to not only use knowledge to drive technological innovation but to facilitate social and cultural progress.  

Since my return from SARIMA, I have also engaged in a conversation with colleagues at University of Cape Town, who have an established unit for Socially Engaged Research. They do much of type of impact skills training we are familiar with – Stakeholder Engagement and have recently conducted an exercise to identify impact case studies. It is interesting to see the impact case study used in part of the world where REF is not a driver. There’s no denying it is the best format available to convey the richness of research impact.   

I like to visualise research impact as a pool that gets deeper the further in you get. At the shallow end we often begin with question such as how we capture and measure this. These are important questions often driven by concerns around reporting and funding (and hopefully learning too).  As you wade deeper the questions become deeper too, and are concerned with the experiential aspects of impact: What does it mean for how research is conceived and conducted, for what we value in research culture, for people who we engage with? And what are the ethical implications of pursuing impact?   

I came away from SARIMA with a sense that many are just entering the pool and others are a bit deeper.  That is not an exceptional observation – it makes total sense in the context of research across a whole continent made up of 54 sovereign states (or 55 depending on your source!) For me the next step is simply to continue the conversations I have started with some of the extremely impressive individuals I met. I will listen, learn and hopefully find a way to collaborate in a way that is mutually beneficial. I felt a vibrancy among colleagues working in African research that is exciting and who doesn’t want a bit of excitement in their life?!