Education research in Australia: where is it conducted?

Abstract

Research assessment exercises aim to identify research quantity and quality and provide insights into research capacity building strategies for the future. Yet with limited knowledge of the ecology of Australian educational research, there is little chance of understanding what research audits might contribute towards a capacity building agenda for such a complex field. This paper draws on secondary data analysis of research outputs submitted by 13 Australian higher education institutions to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2010 and 2012 national research assessment exercises, to show where Australian educational research is conducted. Findings offer a profile of education researchers by location in academic organisational units within universities. By analyzing data not accessible through reported ERA data we were also able to present information about appointment profiles, specifically levels and type of appointment within universities, as well as data on institutional and geographic region, and patterns associated with type of outputs (books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers and other outputs) and field of research. Analysis of the data reveals definitive shifts in the nature of the published outputs and in employment profiles of researchers and their location across university and regional groupings. Research audits are administrative processes that reshape institutional and disciplinary governance structures, policies, individual outputs, work practices and careers, but they are not the sum total of the field per se.

Authorship, Ownership, and Plagiarism in the Digital Age

“…In nations like Australia and the UK, funding for institutions is based on academic research output -which includes winning competitive funding and publishing research findings (see discussions of the RAE exercise in the UK by Prowle 2013 and the ERA exercise in Australia by Bobis et al 2013). For many academic staff working in universities around the world, being an "author" of textual products is a critical part of their job descriptions, their institutional roles, not to mention their own sense of academic identity (MacSherry 2000;Galloway and Jones 2012;Taylor 2001).…”

Education journals: A comparison of publishing patterns in Australian, German and English education journals

“…The AARE/ACDE project revealed that the educational research community in Australia was spread among researchers in Education ‘academic organisational units’ (AOUs) classifying their research outputs as belonging to the Education ‘field of research’ (FoR), researchers in education AOUs perceiving their research as belonging to other FoRs, and researchers in other AOUs perceiving their research as belonging to the education FoR. Bobis et al (2013) reported that the proportion of education FoR submissions to ERA 2010 for education AOUs was 54.6% and in ERA 2012 this increased to 59.3%. ERA 2010 covered 20% of research published between 2003 and 2008, and ERA 2012 covered 30% of research published between 2005 and 2010.…”

“…Educational research for ERA was coded into four categories: Education Systems; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Specialist Studies in Education; and Other Education. The group of leading Australian research-intensive universities, the so-called Group of Eight produced 54% of the education FoR submissions in ERA 2010 and 60% in ERA 2012 (Bobis et al, 2013). Bobis et al (2013) pointed out that the Education FoR should not be considered as synonymous with educational research.…”

“…The group of leading Australian research-intensive universities, the so-called Group of Eight produced 54% of the education FoR submissions in ERA 2010 and 60% in ERA 2012 (Bobis et al, 2013). Bobis et al (2013) pointed out that the Education FoR should not be considered as synonymous with educational research. Adding to Seddon et al’s (2013) argument about building capacity in educational research by sharing across ‘sub-ecologies’, Bobis et al suggested the need to acknowledge the input of academic disciplines associated with Education and also the input beyond the Academy by ‘schools, workplaces and community learning agencies’ (Bobis et al, 2013: 469).…”

“…Bobis et al (2013) pointed out that the Education FoR should not be considered as synonymous with educational research. Adding to Seddon et al’s (2013) argument about building capacity in educational research by sharing across ‘sub-ecologies’, Bobis et al suggested the need to acknowledge the input of academic disciplines associated with Education and also the input beyond the Academy by ‘schools, workplaces and community learning agencies’ (Bobis et al, 2013: 469). Although seemingly more inclusive than the RAE/REF, as indicated by Furlong (2013), Bobis et al, on the other hand, perceived the ERA as an exercise similarly controlled by the ‘professional elites’ (Bobis et al, 2013: 469) which subscribes to the notion of ‘international excellence’ and that the ERA is driven by and drives internal promotion, tenure and review processes, as Yates (2016) reflected.…”