Navigating research currents – emerging Pasifika researcher?

Abstract

The title of this work speaks to my experience as an emerging researcher in a tertiary environment. Seventeen years ago, during my introduction to research as a required topic of study, I recall making the comment ‘... up until now I have measured things with a ruler’. More recently I have come to understand the research processes as premised on the economic imperatives of an information age. Implicit in this is the acquisition of knowledge based on intellectual property, where research for the sake of research vies with sites seeking to create purposeful research as conduits to informing policy and improved circumstances. In truth, the drive and thrust of Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) imperatives in my place of work has changed the original content of my work in bridging education and social work training to where the teaching component is no longer the primary focus. Certainly external factors have played a contributing role in structural and systems changes of the institution (for example, amalgamation with a leading university), however the PBRF environment across campuses is now the norm. Research outputs increasingly help to fund tertiary institutions. This article draws attention to some reflections of the writer with regard to notions of an emerging Pasifika researcher.