How academic sabbaticals are used and how they contribute to research – a small-scale study of the University of Cambridge using interviews and analysis of administrative data

Abstract

Background: Academic sabbaticals are seen as an important aspect of academic life and require considerable resources, however, little research has been done into how they are used and whether their effects can be measured. We explored these issues at the University of Cambridge. Methods: A mixed method approach including 24 interviews with academics, eight interviews with administrators; alongside analysis of administrative and publication data between 2010 and 2019. Results: Academics underline the importance of sabbaticals in providing uninterrupted time for research that is used to think, explore new ideas, master new techniques, develop new collaborations, draw together previous work, set work in a wider context, and provide personal discretion in research direction. They also highlight sabbaticals’ contributions in allowing the beneficial effects of combining teaching and research, while mitigating some of the disadvantages. However, it is difficult to detect the effect of sabbaticals on publications using a time series approach. Conclusions: Sabbaticals provide manifold contributions to academic research at the University of Cambridge; however, detecting and quantifying this contribution, and extending these findings requires wider and more detailed investigation.

How academic sabbaticals are used and how they contribute to research – a small-scale study of the University of Cambridge using interviews and analysis of administrative data

“…As previously mentioned, the data collected for this work studying sabbaticals was collected for multiple purposes as it was part of a larger project about how universities use discretionary funds ( Ioppolo & Wooding, 2021 ). In all areas of this larger project, wanted to ensure we maximised the diversity of our relative small sample based on demographic characteristics such as their gender, discipline or career stage; and that we minimised our discretion as researchers to bias the selection.…”

“…The data used in this paper on sabbaticals served many purposes, which is why such a complicated sampling strategy was used – to maximise diversity and minimise our opportunity to bias the selection. As part of a larger research project ( Ioppolo & Wooding 2021 ), we identified 24 academics currently employed by, or affiliated to, Cambridge to interview through a variety of approaches. In this larger research project, we wanted to examine the potential benefits of discretionary funds to support research activities with the understanding that sabbaticals are arguably supported by discretionary research funding.…”

“… Whether there was a funding acknowledgement present in either the Dimensions database, or a link to a grant in University of Cambridge’s internal databases (absent/present). For more details on the accuracy of this assessment see ( Ioppolo & Wooding, 2021 ). …”

“…This paper shares a selection of findings from a larger research project we conducted ( Ioppolo & Wooding, 2021 ), which studied the ways one of the world’s leading research universities – the University of Cambridge – uses discretionary funds to support research. We found that a key way discretionary funds support research is through allowing sabbaticals, which is the sole focus of this paper.…”