Different research markets: a disciplinary perspective

Abstract

Drawing upon the notions of academic capitalism and the transformation of academic research from traditional academic orientation into market orientation, the paper sets out to empirically scrutinize the changing nature of academic research, focusing especially on disciplinary differences. The paper is based on a survey of heads of departments and research units at Finnish universities representing all disciplinary groups (n = 255) and on in-depth interviews with Finnish academics (n = 31) in the fields of humanities, social sciences, technology and natural sciences. Based on the survey data, the funding, selection of research topics, collaboration partners, audiences and publication forums in research are analysed. Following this, five research markets are discerned: academic, corporate, policy, professional and public market, each characterized by its own values and rationality as to what is considered the reference group, basic objective and outcome of research. The paper concludes that the transformation thesis needs to be revisited and specified since on the one hand, academic orientation still remains crucially important in all disciplinary groups, and on the other hand, market orientation entails several kinds of markets, pointing to the versatility of the university-society relationship.

The relationship between basic and applied research in universities

“…It also supports earlier work claiming that traditional academic orientations remain strong in universities, even in periods of decreased core funding and increased pressure for various forms of societal engagement (Ylijoki et al 2011). We still do not have sufficient evidence to conclude whether the frequent ''hybrid profiles'' of academics High Educ (2015) 70:689-709 703 are productive and meaningful or whether they to a greater extent represent incommensurable activities leading to stress and insecurity (c.f.…”

“…A large-scale Finnish investigation found that an ''academic orientation'' with strong emphasis on basic research remains central across disciplinary fields (Ylijoki et al 2011). The authors question the thesis that a significant transformation is taking place in universities, arguing instead that academics find different ways to combine an academic orientation with various forms of societal engagement.…”

The Universities’ Transformation Thesis Revisited

“…The thesis has been criticised for emphasising science, technology and medicine and not covering the various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences (Albert, 2003;Godin, 1998). It has also been claimed that the thesis is poorly grounded in empirical research in individual disciplines and concrete university contexts (Ylijoki, 2003;Tuunainen, 2005aTuunainen, , 2005bYlijoki et al, 2011;Albert and McGuire, 2014). Inspired by these critiques, this article sets out to investigate the relation-…”

Moving up the ladder: heterogeneity influencing academic careers through research orientation, gender, and mentors

“…Outputs may range from publications (Bentley, Gulbrandsen, and Kyvik 2015) to practical applications such as patents as well as product and process innovations (Philpott et al 2011;Ylijoki, Lyytinen, and Marttila 2011). Academics focusing on Bohr research extend the knowledge base by publishing.…”