Societal impact and relevance of research

Every piece of research irrespective of its discipline needs to have either social, cultural, economic, environmental, ecological, legal, behavioural, demographic, ethnic or humanistic implications on the society at large 

Universities are established with a primary mandate to create new knowledge through quality and cutting-edge research and through such research make a tangible and sustainable impact on the society. It is imperative for every piece of research irrespective of the field in which it is undertaken to have a significant societal impact in terms of some kind of scientific, social, cultural, economic, environmental, ecological, political, spiritual, technological, legal, behavioural, demographic, ethnic or humanistic implications on the society at large. Research devoid of all of such implications can justifiably be rubbished as good for nothing research. By societal impact of research, we imply the evidence-based improvements experienced by individuals and societies as a result of the transference of findings, outcomes and benefits of good quality research. Societal impact is denoted by the extent to which research contributes to and creates an understanding of the development of various social and economic sectors such as industry, academia, polity, governance, policymaking, healthcare etc. It means the objectives that they aim to achieve and to resolve some of the most intriguing issues, problems and concerns of the society like climate change, food security, sustainable energy, diseased population, equity and social justice, social inclusion and cohesion. Public funding in research is always made on the assumption that it would inevitably have a positive impact on areas such as our means of communication, modes of working, shelter, clothing and food, our methods of transportation and even the length and quality of our life itself. 

As a result of drastic decline in the funding available for undertaking any kind of research clubbed with a constant rise in the global demand for undertaking problem-based, goal-oriented, demand-driven, context-specific, translational, need-based, locally and socially relevant research, the necessity and demand for enhancing and measuring societal impact and relevance of every piece of research has grown shriller than ever. Government and private funding agencies worldwide are seeking returns on their investments and laying huge emphasis these days on the societal outcomes of research and their applicability in resolving day-to-day problems being faced by the mankind. So far researchers have been focussing only upon scientific or academic impact of the research in terms of number and quality of publications in scientific journals having high impact factor. Since journal impact factors were basically designed to assess the quality of a journal by calculating the number of times the articles published in that journal were referenced or cited by others, measuring quality of research solely by the impact factor of the journal in which it is published is fraught with certain inherent flaws owing to the fact that impact factor can inform about the quality of journal but not always about the actual quality of research published. Therefore, there is need to assess and ensure some kind of social impact of the research on ground because at the end of the day it is not the impact factor, h-index or the number of citations received on a publication that matter, what really matters the most is to what extent research has significantly impacted and brought a positive change in the human lives and transformed this world into a better place to live. 

Research can be broadly classified into two major categories of fundamental and applied research, both of them being undertaken in academic institutions like universities and colleges whereas research and development on products and services is usually undertaken in the industries. Research is so intricately interwoven with practice in some disciplines like law, medicine and engineering that any distinction between research quality and societal relevance would be deceptive and would be at loggerheads with accepted views on the quality of research in that field in light of the fact that research in such fields is almost always practice-based and demand-driven. Similarly, research in other areas of applied sciences like computer sciences, information technology, bio-informatics, electronics etc is deeply rooted in professional practice and strongly associated with an application context and therefore inevitably bearing a strong societal impact. In such domains of knowledge, research questions are almost always drawn from practice and consequently the results will have to be directly applicable. However, in case of fundamental research where research is mostly carried out to unravel theories, principles, mechanisms and methods involved in basis sciences, social impact may not be visible soon enough. It may sometimes become apparent after a gap of several years or even several decades when the pieces of a puzzle are joined together by a multitude of research projects in different parts of the world. Therefore, we need to assess the quality or impact of a research ‘in context’. Since the context differs drastically from one area of research, discipline or organization to another, indicators of societal impact and relevance may also differ.   

While the evaluation of academic and scientific relevance of research is of paramount importance and should not be compromised under any circumstances, there is need for more comprehensive evaluation methods that focus not only on scientific quality of research but also on its societal relevance. However, there are certain intrinsic problems confronted in the measurement of societal impact and relevance of research because of the paucity of robust and reliable indicators, tools and frameworks required for the same. Since different stakeholders have different outlooks and expectations from research, it is practically impossible for two different measurements of the societal impact of a certain piece of research to match completely. Unlike scientific impact measurement, there is a lack of well-documented, empirical frameworks with adequate data sets, criteria and methods for the evaluation of societal impact of research and that is the reason why in majority of studies, societal impact of research is more postulated than demonstrated (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2011). Evaluation of research relevance is quite a challenging job because it is difficult to attribute a certain impact to a specific single piece of work. At times a certain scientific outcome significantly matches with an effect observed in the society and is therefore attributed to it, whereas in actual practice, the relationship is not of a causal nature but caused by mere coincidence. 

In order for the research to have some meaningful impact on the society, there has to be some quality interaction between a research group and its societal stakeholders. Such interaction can take place either when the research agenda is determined or during the research process itself, or even afterwards, when the results are communicated to the stakeholders. A productive interaction with stakeholders is vital for collecting information on a research group’s performance. In many of the western universities, research shops, fairs and exhibitions are organized on regular basis to collect information and feedback from the communities on their issues, problems and concerns and subsequently evolve tangible solutions to them through problem-based research. Modes of interaction with stakeholders may include personal contact, as in joint projects, networks, consortiums, consultancy relationships, part-time practitioner work; through publications such as papers in journals, reports, protocols and educational material; through artefacts, such as exhibitions, software, websites, models, musical scores; through stakeholder contributions to the research: financial, direct involvement, or by facility sharing (Spaapen et al, 2010). Stakeholders can be involved in the evaluation of societal relevance of research, either in the self-assessment phase or by including stakeholders in the external evaluation committee. Societal relevance of research can also extend beyond its immediate importance for primary stakeholders to its secondary stakeholders in order to ascertain whether the research has a broader relevance that is not reflected by the primary stakeholders. 

As a result of the inadequacy of tools required for measuring societal impact, the idea of using knowledge transfer capabilities as a tool has been widely promoted worldwide. The underlying thought and rationale behind this idea is that it is more effective and valuable to measure the ability to communicate with society because only through communication it will become possible that scientific ideas find an application in society. In a survey conducted in June 2019 by the Association of Universities in the Netherlands, with more than 9,000 active researchers responding from across a broad range of regions, career stages and subject fields, more than half (52%) of the respondents reported promoting their research on scientific and social networks sites. The interaction between science and society has been ever increasing in the twenty first century in the light of a fast-shrinking and rapidly changing global economy (Crespi and Geuna, 2004) and this explains the emphasis that is being laid upon “knowledge valorisation”. It is a French term used for the transfer of knowledge from one party to another with the aim of creating economic and societal benefits (Feldman and Kelly, 2006). “Valorisation” is a term mainly used in European countries, which means ‘to make useful, to use, to exploit’. Essentially, it should be understood as the process of making use of knowledge. 

In conclusion every single piece of research necessarily needs to deliver some benefits to the society. Social benefits may indicate the contribution of the research to the social capital of a nation (e.g., stimulating new approaches to social issues, informed public debate, and improved policymaking). On the other hand, cultural benefits are additions to the cultural capital of a nation (e.g., understanding how we relate to other societies and cultures, contributing to cultural preservation and enrichment) whereas ecological/environmental benefits add to the natural resource capital of a nation (e.g., reduced waste and pollution, uptake of recycling techniques). Economic benefits denote contributions to the economic capital of a nation (e.g., enhancing the skills base, improved productivity) (Donovan, 2003;2011). A consortium between five Finnish public research organizations involved in R&D activity has developed methods and indicators needed to analyse the socioeconomic impacts of research and has proposed five dimensions of impact with certain examples of indicators that include impact on economy, technology, and commercialization (e.g., patent applications, entry into new markets); impact on knowledge, expertise, human capital, and management (e.g., improved research methods, strengthened expertise); impact on networking and social capital (e.g., improved networking between research partners, firms, etc.); impact on decision making and public discourse (e.g., participation in legislative and strategy planning); and impact on social and physical environment (e.g., promotion of safety, development of infrastructure) (L-Smith et al., 2006). There is need to study all such innovative methods, tools and frameworks available in literature and apply them in our local contexts for improving the societal impact and relevance of research, leading to what the scientists call ‘knowledge valorisation”, which means to make it beneficial and useful for the society.

(Author teaches at the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is also Director, Centre for Career Planning and Counselling, University of Kashmir)

Establishing Career Planning and Development as an Academic Discipline

Science of career planning and development is primarily aimed at capacity building, professional and personality development of youth in consonance with their interests, aptitude and personality traits that leads to their transformation as proficient workers ready to serve the society in diverse capacities

Post-pandemic world is throwing up a career landscape that is immensely turbulent, unpredictable, diverse and challenging. Factors that have contributed to this drastically changed environment include economic slump, technological advancements, workforce diversity, market demand, revised policies, changing lifestyles and other societal influences. Technological advances in particular have ushered into an ever-rising knowledge economy and have influenced not only the types of jobs available but also how work is done (e.g., virtual teams, online meetings), where work is done (e.g., telecommunicating from home, office or public places like parks), and the scope of work (e.g., global access to potential buyers and suppliers). All this has resulted into a less stable and more uncertain career environment that presents significant challenges for career development. Under these circumstances we need to keep pace with the fast-changing times and global trends and accordingly align the career goals and objectives of our students to suit the needs and demands of contemporary job markets and help them build the flexibilities that they need to thrive in a constantly changing work ecosystem. We need to continually evolve our career development science and its knowledge to meet the challenges of the global, technologically advanced, demand-driven career landscape. 

Career development is not just about counselling, placement and job selection. It needs to be studied as a science and established as a full-fledged academic discipline since it is based upon well studied psychosocial development theories and concepts like person-environment interaction including work adjustment theory and Holland’s Model, Social Cognitive Models including Social Learning and Social Efficacy Theory, Decision-making Models including personality approaches, Roe’s personality theory and other psychodynamic perspectives on career development including issues related to gender, culture and ethnicity. Holland’s RIASEC Conceptual Framework that was put forth way back in 1958 by the American psychologist John Holland classifies personalities into six categories of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional and accordingly describes their suitable choices for career selection commensurate to their personality, temperament, interests and inclinations. If we follow such a logistic model, the possibilities of making errors in career selection will be drastically minimized that can otherwise prove disastrous for the person if not done in an appropriate manner. Since work encompasses more than just financial security, our students need to seek occupations that enhance their sense of self-awareness and aptly define them who they are owing to the fact that so much of a person’s self-esteem depends upon his success at work. 

A whole lot of assessment tools and instruments are available online/offline to help career counsellors identify talent of their students, develop their potential and enhance their occupational/organizational performance. Some of them include Myers Briggs Assessment, Psychometrics 360, Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) Assessment, Strong Interest Inventory Assessment, FIRO Assessments, Work Personality Index, Job Match Assessment, Employee Reliability Inventory etc. Psychometric testing and analysis is one such significant and useful tool used for ascertaining the psyche and personality traits of an individual for selection of a suitable career in tune with his likes and dislikes, interests and beliefs, inborn characteristics and most compatible personality traits. Advantages of psychometric testing are that it allows a holistic psychological profiling and objective assessment of candidates that can be followed by an efficient counselling process. It is a reliable and credible method of assessing all career options, prioritizing and comparing them with each other and finally selecting one out of a whole lot of them for accomplishment of one’s career goals and ambitions. Apart from psychometric testing a whole gamut of activities can be undertaken under the domain of career planning and development to help the students choose the best career option that include Career Mapping, Career Indexing, Skill Gap Analysis and Collaborative Context Analysis. 

Career mapping 

It is important for our educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities to track and map the career of all their students not only for maintaining connectivity and collecting constant feedback from them but also to learn from their decisions and experiences and to analyse the effectiveness and appropriateness of their choices vis-à-vis their career and jobs so that valuable lessons could be drawn for future. Usually, students tend to forget their colleges and universities and the institutions too tend to forget their students once they get their degrees and pass-out from them whereas it would have served the mutual interests of both of them to maintain a constant rapport and communication between them for assisting each other in improved decision and policy making. Every educational institution needs to maintain a logbook and a complete database with all requisite details of their alumni besides having a fully functional alumni association since the alumni can serve as dependable mentors and do the hand-holding of existing students by providing them necessary support in terms of information, guidance, counselling, financial assistance or by simply extending their intellectual and moral support to them as and when needed. 

Career indexing 

A paradigm shift has occurred in the number and type of career choices available to students in the contemporary times. A whole lot of new choices have emerged and a vast number of old choices have become obsolete and redundant. Under these circumstances when thousands of career choices are available to students at every stage of their career and even greater number of job opportunities are available to them after they graduate, there is need for a vibrant and user-friendly portal that lists all career choices and job opportunities for easy browsing of the aspirants. There is need to index all upcoming and current career options at school, college and university levels so that the students could utilize the same at their own convenience from the comforts of their home. Career and job opportunities should be classified at such portals into local, national and international level apart from giving full information about the colleges and universities, scholarships and fellowships, subject combinations and other available facilities. These portals can also facilitate psychometric testing of students with a view to select a career that suits their personality, interests, values and insights. Career Indexing tool must allow the students to shortlist suitable career options, prioritize their chosen options, compare them with other options available, consider non-personal and external factors like demand in the job market and finally after goal-defining devise appropriate strategic action plan for achieving those career goals. 

Skill-gap analysis 

Though huge armies of students are passing out successfully from our higher education institutions every year, mostly it has been found that they lack the necessary skillsets, mindsets, abilities and competencies that are required and demanded by the job markets. While they possess impressive merit and credentials, that does not stand them in a good stead while searching for a job of their own choice because they lack the necessary communication skills, IT proficiency, computational and quantitative skills, business and foundational skills that are essential in the modern times. Therefore, there is need to undertake a comprehensive skill-gap analysis of our youth and identify areas of insufficiency as well as the areas needed for their upskilling that would enhance their employability in the job markets. Our career counselling centres need to have such experts who are well-trained in undertaking skill-gap analysis. 

Collaborative context analysis 

Once we are done with career mapping, indexing and skill-gap analysis we need to undertake a context analysis of the local job markets, their demand analysis, qualification, training and experience requirements, pay packages offered and sustainability in collaboration with local industry partners and other stakeholders. By maintaining a constant liaison with the local and national industry our career counselling centres need to have a readymade list of job opportunities available alongwith their essential and desirable requirements. Accordingly, our education needs to be made practice-based, demand-driven, locally and socially relevant, context-based and skill-enabled. 

There are very few higher educational institutions in India that offer career planning/development/guidance as a diploma or a degree course. However, owing to its long-term implications on the individuals and societies there is need to establish it as a full-fledged academic discipline and thoroughly study all its dimensions. In fact a lot of research can be done on the psychosocial, cultural, ethnic, demographic, geographical, anthropological and economic factors that affect career development of individuals and on the instruments needed to assess their personalities, choices and interests essential for guiding them in making appropriate career choices at different stages of their lives. Precision, reliability and effectiveness of such instruments needs to be measured statistically leaving little scope for making errors in career guidance. Career development as an academic discipline can help us dwell into various aspects like career development models and theories, career resources including organizations and other sources of information, career assessment and ethical career counselling practices, technology related to career planning, developing and implementing a career development programme for diverse populations. As narrated by B.C. Forbes, the founder of Forbes magazine, “Think of yourself not as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselling and scraping and polishing”. This is exactly what career development discipline will be expected to do. 

(Author teaches at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is also Director, Centre for Career Planning and Counselling, University of Kashmir)