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Helen Kara

Linda Baines

May 19th, 2023

If UKRI wants to support a diverse research environment, it should include independent researchers

1 comment | 9 shares

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Helen Kara

Linda Baines

May 19th, 2023

If UKRI wants to support a diverse research environment, it should include independent researchers

1 comment | 9 shares

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Responding to the publication of UKRI’s EDI strategy, Helen Kara and Linda Baines argue that by excluding the work of independent researchers, the strategy will struggle to achieve its objective of promoting an inclusive research system.


Earlier this year, UKRI published its EDI strategy which, in their words, ‘outlines our ambition for a thriving research and innovation system, by everyone, for everyone.’ UKRI committed itself to value ‘different people, ideas, ways of thinking, skills and perspectives’, and to include and support a diversity of people and ideas through its funding’. Six of the UKRI’s research councils, including the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities research council, have subsequently published EDI action plans.

Not one of these documents mentions independent researchers. This is a major oversight for three reasons:

First, there are an increasing number of independent researchers in the UK. Learned societies, such as the Social Research Association (SRA) and the British Educational Research Association (BERA), report a significant proportion of independent researchers among their membership. BERA notably has an Independent Researchers’ Forum. This is partly due to the increasing precarity of employment; self-employment can feel, and be, a more secure and healthier option. Other independent researchers successfully undertake research alongside working full-time after deciding that a career in academia is not for them. And there is evidence that others still are pushed out of research careers precisely due to the kind of discrimination UKRI claims to address through its EDI strategy. This growth of independent scholarship is also reflected by the increasing numbers of individuals who are coming into research after careers elsewhere and undertaking PhDs later in life, as reflected in the research that Linda Baines has recently undertaken on ‘Late Blooming Researchers’ (forthcoming in the NCIS Guide for Independent Scholars).

Second, independent researchers can be agile, responsive, skilful, and cost-effective. Our overheads are low. When working with academic colleagues on bids for research funding, it can be shocking to see that universities demand huge percentages for ‘overheads’ – as much as 50% in some cases. There is therefore a strong economic argument for UKRI to work with independent researchers because a higher proportion of funds could be spent on doing research and creating innovation, rather than lining institutional coffers.

Third, independent scholars are an untapped resource of ideas, research and energy. We bring perspectives that are not directly affected by institutional pressures, constraints, and power games. We do not have to hit departmental targets, spend months marking assignments, or worry about externally imposed performance indicators. This means we have more time to think, read, and work on research; we bring an outsider’s perspective that can enable us to offer fresh insights and enriched understanding; as a result, our research projects and practices can be richer, deeper, and more innovative.

Independent researchers find it almost impossible to find funding to support our research. Independent researchers can apply to The British Academy and Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme for funding, but we are not eligible to apply for funding in our own right from any UK research council. Members of organisations like the National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) can apply for a few small pots of grant funding from those organisations, but the amounts of money on offer are nowhere near those available from national research funders. Some independent researchers hold honorary research positions in universities. But again, as we do not qualify as members of staff, we have to rely on our academic peers to include us in applications for research funding to UK research councils.

Some years ago, before the formation of UKRI, Helen Kara asked a former chief executive of the ESRC why independent researchers were not eligible to apply for research funding. The reply was that the ESRC was not set up to fund sole or small groups of researchers. Helen suggested that the Arts Council was well placed to advise on how to do this successfully, as yet the suggestion appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Further, in our experience research councils can take the labour of independent researchers for granted. For example, after being asked to perform significant project evaluation, Helen was informed there was ‘no budget’ for this kind for this kind of work. Doubtless a hangover for a time when all academics were salaried and such work constituted academic service, it suggests a lagging perception of academic careers that is out of step with current practice.

A couple of years ago the SRA led a major study of diversity and inclusion in research. This seems to have been roundly ignored by UKRI, because it does include independent researchers. The SRA’s research acknowledges independent researchers as part of the UK research context, saying: ‘Social research takes place across the public sector, research agencies, charities, academia, research institutes and think tanks, and through independent researchers.’ (Boelman, Bell and Harney 2021 p6) Interestingly, one finding was that EDI issues are a factor in over half of researchers’ decisions to become independent. This suggests that many independent researchers are already marginalised in a range of ways, and are then further marginalised by our own national research funders.

We do not understand why UKRI is still excluding independent researchers. Continuing to exclude independent researchers gives the lie to UKRI’s claim to include ‘everyone’. More importantly, it is a waste of a valuable national resource.  Independent scholars bring professional and practical knowledge and skills which enriches the research we undertake. Organisations like NCIS offer a community and professional network for independent researchers who can feel isolated and overlooked. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of independent researchers in the UK. We call on UKRI to include us, explicitly and in practice, in the UK research and innovation system where we belong.

 


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Image Credit: Markus Spiske via Unsplash.


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About the author

Helen Kara

Dr Helen Kara has been an independent researcher since 1999 and also teaches research methods and ethics. She is not, and never has been, an academic, though she has learned to speak the language. In 2015 Helen was the first fully independent researcher to be conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research, University of Manchester. She has written widely on research methods and ethics, including Research Ethics in the Real World: Euro-Western and Indigenous Perspectives (2018, Policy Press).

Linda Baines

Linda Baines is President of the National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS), which has members worldwide, an independent researcher and a visiting researcher at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton. In a previous life, Linda was a senior manager in the public sector, most recently in the research councils, now UKRI).

Posted In: Equity Diversity and Inclusion | Research funding

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