Abstract
Scientific knowledge dissemination is necessary to collaboratively develop solutions to today’s challenges among scientific, public, and commercial actors. Building on this, recent concepts (e.g., Third Mission) discuss the role and value of different dissemination mechanisms for increasing societal impact. However, the value individual scientists receive in exchange for disseminating knowledge differs across these mechanisms, which, consequently, affects their selection. So far, value capture mechanisms have mainly been described as appropriating monetary rewards in exchange for scientists’ knowledge (e.g., patenting). However, most knowledge dissemination activities in science do not directly result in capturing monetary value (e.g., social engagement). By taking a value capture perspective, this article conceptualizes and explores how individual scientists capture value from disseminating their knowledge. Results from our qualitative study indicate that scientists’ value capture consists of a measureable objective part (e.g., career promotion) and a still unconsidered subjective part (e.g., social recognition), which is perceived as valuable due to scientists’ needs. By advancing our understanding of value capture in science, scientists’ selection of dissemination mechanisms can be incentivized to increase both the value captured by themselves and society. Hence, policy makers and university managers can contribute to overcoming institutional and ecosystem barriers and foster scientists’ engagement with society.
Highlights
Developing solutions to handle today’s challenges such as the climate crisis, demographic changes, migration, or digitalization requires the recombination of knowledge from different public, scientific, and commercial stakeholders
There are a multitude of different dissemination mechanisms, which vary in their degrees of knowledge accessibility and, in their value created and captured by the knowledge-using parties and knowledge-producing parties
Since much of the current literature considers value captured in exchange for scientific knowledge to be monetary only [2,3,7,8], these mechanisms would paradoxically only indirectly lead to value captured for the knowledge creating scientists1
Summary
Developing solutions to handle today’s challenges such as the climate crisis, demographic changes, migration, or digitalization requires the recombination of knowledge from different public, scientific, and commercial stakeholders. Since much of the current literature considers value captured in exchange for scientific knowledge to be monetary only [2,3,7,8], these mechanisms would paradoxically only indirectly lead to value captured for the knowledge creating scientists1 This becomes even more apparent when considering “on top” dissemination activities that currently either do not contribute to a scientist’s performance assessment, or that contribute to a lesser extent in current evaluation systems (e.g., continuous education, social engagement, and knowledge transfer including open knowledge/data transfer practices). Often, such scientific dissemination activities aim to foster linkages to the general public as encouraged by universities’ Third
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