Abstract
The adoption by universities in many countries of a mission of contributing to wealth creation and social benefit has raised questions, and also concerns, about its effects on academic research and academic researchers. This study used in-depth interviews to examine how a sample of academics in UK biological sciences departments were responding to this change. Although most were engaged in user-oriented research, much of it was undertaken to generate income and was on the periphery of their mainstream research. Their criteria for success continue to uphold traditional academic values. It is argued that the dominance of these values may disadvantage assistant staff working on industry-related projects and encourages a narrow view of postgraduate and postdoctoral research training as preparation solely for an academic career. Thus, for all the apparent readiness of research departments to engage with industry, their engagement appears strictly limited, and this may have implications for universities' performance of their mission in both research and training.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
