Academic Practitioner Collaboration Research Articles

Ideas for bridging the academic-policy divide at the nexus of gender and entrepreneurship

PurposeInspired by the “responsibility turn” in the broader organization/management literature, the overarching aim of this article is to help scholars working at the gender × entrepreneurship intersection produce research with a higher likelihood of being accessed, appreciated and acted upon by policy- practitioners. Consistent with this aim, we hope that our paper contributes to an increased use of academic-practitioner collaborations as a means of producing such research.Design/methodology/approachWe selected Cunliffe and Pavlovich’s (2022) recently formulated “public organization/management studies” (public OMS) approach as our guiding methodology. We implemented this approach by forming a co-authorship team comprised of a policy professional and an entrepreneurship scholar and then engaging in a democratic, collaborative and mutually respectful process of knowledge cogeneration.FindingsOur paper is comprised of four distinct sets of ideas. We start by describing who policy-practitioners are and what they want from academic research in general. We follow this with a comprehensive set of priorities for policy-oriented research at the gender × entrepreneurship nexus, accompanied by references to academic studies that offer initial insight into the identified priorities. We then offer suggestions for the separate and joint actions that scholars and policy-practitioners can take to increase policy-relevant research on gender and entrepreneurship. We end with a description and critical reflection on our application of the public OMS approach.Originality/valueThe ideas presented in our article offer an original response to recent work that has critiqued the policy implications (or lack thereof) within prior research at the gender × entrepreneurship nexus (Foss et al., 2019). Our ideas also complement and extend existing recommendations for strengthening the practical contributions of academic scholarship at this intersection (Nelson, 2020). An especially unique aspect is our description of – and critical reflection upon – how we applied the public OMS approach to bridge the academic-policy divide.

Maximising the potential of academic–practitioner collaborations in international development

AbstractA call to action has been issued for cross‐sector partnerships such as academic–practitioner collaborations to develop evidence‐based solutions to address development challenges. This study investigated correlations between factors such as motivation, involvement in co‐creation of research, usability of research outputs and past partnering experiences with the future participation in such collaborations. Using survey data from members of the LASER PULSE Consortium, we not only present empirical evidence on the mismatch of expectations between academics and practitioners but also recommend a framework to maximise the potential of such collaborations by understanding value propositions and managing partnering experience.

University-industry collaboration as a driver of digital transformation: Types, benefits and enablers

University-Industry collaboration as a driver of digital transformation ultimately depends on the engagement and relationship between individual academics and industry practitioners as partners in a trust relationship. This paper describes the personal (‘lived’) experiences of academics and industry practitioners. The types, benefits, and enablers of the collaboration were investigated during semi-structured face-to-face interviews with industry partners and academic staff from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) unit at the University of Enterprise in Australia. The types of collaboration included research activities, sharing facilities and equipment, innovation and commercialisation, collaboration involving students projects, collaborative teaching and learning, and sharing facilities and equipment. The benefits of the collaboration include access to valuable resources, validation of work, learning and teaching opportunities, financial benefits, improved reputation and career progression. The enablers of collaboration have been clustered into institutional, output, framework, and relationship factors. In this paper we focus on relationship factors and institutional enablers such as stakeholder engagement. The research is represented in a UA-IP Collaboration Model indicating the types (what), benefits (why), and enablers (how) of academic-practitioner collaboration. Universities and businesses from a variety of industries can benefit from the results of the presented research.

The #NotTheCost Campaign: An Academic-Practitioner Collaboration

The #NotTheCost Campaign: An Academic-Practitioner Collaboration

Mirror, Mirror Outside My Wall: Reflexive Impacts of Insider/Outsider Collaborative Inquiry on the Insider Researcher

Based to a considerable extent on Margaret Archer’s approach to reflexive agency, we discuss a multi-year insider/outsider research collaboration that has taken place in a University-based Centre designed to bring academics and management practitioners together to conduct applied research and learn from each other. We focus in particular on the experiences of the insider researcher, showing how, based on her reflexive practice, the collaboration has led to both scholarly contributions and changes in practice in the Centre and her University. In doing so, we flesh out the importance of reflexivity and its important impacts on academic-practitioner collaborations. In long-term insider/outsider collaborations that provide psychologically safe places, outsider researchers can metaphorically hold a mirror up to insider researchers that foster their reflexivity and its subsequent impacts.

Female Rangers in Latin America: An Assessment of Role, Recruitment, and Work Environment

Abstract There has been increased research examining conservation rangers. Little is known, however, about female rangers, including their primary roles and workplace environment. Few studies have examined the profession within a Latin American context. This qualitative study explores ranger respondents’ perceptions towards the role, recruitment, and working environment of female rangers in Latin American countries. Based on data obtained from interviews with 28 respondents across 11 countries, findings suggest female rangers’ roles are largely consistent with that of their male counterparts. However, different strengths were highlighted. Additionally, female involvement in the profession was attributed to national employment-based quotas, increased education and exposure, and the presence of women in leadership. Factors that led to a supportive work environment for female rangers included camaraderie, opportunities for professional development and growth, and attentive supervisors and subordinates. Conversely, the persistence of a machismo culture and discriminatory policies and practices were viewed as obstacles. Findings have several implications regarding gender diversity within the ranger profession. Discussion on academic-practitioner collaborations is also provided.

“Important for you to be there”: Employee activism and the dialectics of researcher–practitioner collaborations

AbstractThe current study examines researcher–practitioner collaborations in the context of employee activism, a context in which the role of reflexivity and theorisation relate in unique ways. Specifically, we examine the collaboration between researchers and a practitioner sustainability manager, in the context of an ongoing organisational sustainability campaign at a French business school. Within the context of an ethnographic, participant observer study, we examine how the roles of “theory” and “practice” are distributed in dynamic ways, and how, across the study, roles are challenged and inverted, oscillating in dialectical moments which we term “praxis encounters”. We contribute to growing debates around academic–practitioner collaborations by showing how the roles of researchers and practitioners evolve dialectically over the course of a project, how employee activism may be studied using collaborative approaches, and how human resource managers may support employee activism. We call for future research about the variety of such dynamics across diverse contexts.

The Butterfly Effect: How Academics and Practitioners’ Micro-Practices Shape Turning Points in Response to Paradox

One of the most frequent means of creating relationships between management research and practice is through collaboration. However, odds are that such arrangements will be filled with tensions that characterize the academic–practitioner gap. Against this background, our study investigates how academics and practitioners’ micro-practices shape turning points in response to paradox in six collaborations. We assume a process ontology and employ a comparative case study approach to explore the evolving relationships between academics and practitioners in collaborative settings through 34 semi-structured interviews conducted during the second year of joint work in a social program. Our findings demonstrate how small and seemingly mundane acts at the micro level can affect turning points during the collaborative process by shaping their trajectories. With their day-to-day actions, our informants created significant change in organizational settings characterized by paradox. We found that multiple independent paths to generative responses to paradox exist. However, cultures of impactful collaboration do not evolve quickly and are not attributable to single discrete events. We propose a process model of turning points in academic–practitioner collaborations and offer implications for both theory and practice.

Collaborating for policy impact: Academic-practitioner collaboration in industrial relations research

Knowledge co-production between academics and practitioners is increasingly a focus for university workplace contexts. While there is emerging interest in how social science academics can engage with industry to generate impact, little attention has been paid to how one form of practitioner organisation, trade unions, engages with academics to influence policy and member outcomes. In this article, we examine a case of research collaboration with an education trade union based in New South Wales, Australia, to explore the process of knowledge co-production with this partnership and its impact on education policy. In examining this decade-long partnership, we contribute to the literature on union strategy by depicting collaboration with researchers as a unique strategy for influencing policy outcomes (in this case, addressing teacher workload), while also contributing to emerging scholarship on knowledge co-production as a means to generate impact beyond the academy. As such, this article contributes a rare example of ‘cross-over’ between the worlds of academia and industry, which may inform future engagement and impact processes.

A learning design framework for community resilience: International and transdisciplinary perspectives on a boundary object

To equip graduates to respond to sustainability challenges, higher education institutions are developing programs and innovative pedagogical approaches that target new types of 21st century knowledge and skills. Resilience is a core concept in sustainability discourse, and one that is also driving pedagogical innovation that targets specific learner attributes. We argue that the topic of community resilience – as a theoretical boundary object – presents rich opportunities for transdisciplinary Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This paper highlights international and cross-disciplinary trends in learning design for community resilience-focused university programs. The results outline the survey responses of 111 educators, researchers, and practitioners from a range of disciplines. One-way analysis of variance showed consistent results across the different groups of participants, regardless of geographic location, disciplinary background, or employment context. The research offers a learning design framework for teaching community resilience in higher education institutions, highlighting the importance of academic—practitioner collaboration in program development, disciplinary expertise to inform transdisciplinary learning, hybridised pedagogical approaches, and fostering student agency through assessment tasks.

New development: The emerging role of a ‘learning partner’ relationship in supporting public service reform

IMPACT This article describes why managers of public services who are engaged in reform should consider engaging in learning partnerships. The authors explain how this emerging approach provides important sources of reflexive practice to members of partnerships, including policy-makers, consulting firms, and academia; they show how these sectors can collaborate to build learning capacity across multiple stakeholders; as well as the dilemmas and dualisms involved. ABSTRACT As public services face the limits of existing approaches to public management, emerging practices are highlighting the importance of continuous learning and service reform. While many approaches, methods and aids for learning exist, managers embracing complexity are making use of relational resources to scaffold their learning capacity-building. This article introduces the idea of ‘learning partnerships’: a set of nested learning relationships between public managers, consultants, and researchers and academics, which extends the literature on academic–practitioner collaborations and builds a relational mechanism for learning into the action learning action research (ALAR) and learning organization genres.

Academic Impact of Articles by Practitioners in the Field of Library and Information Science

This study measured the relative academic impact of articles by LIS practitioners by analyzing library and information science articles published between 2005 and 2014. The results revealed that, although practitioners were not the main knowledge contributors, the academic impact of articles by practitioners was not significantly lower than that of articles by academics. No significant differences in academic impact were present between any two types of coauthored articles. Articles from academic–practitioner collaboration were cited earlier than articles from practitioner–practitioner and academic–academic collaborations. This study suggests that LIS practitioners appear to benefit from collaborative scholarship with LIS researchers through more citations and higher impact.

Informing Protected Area Decision Making through Academic-Practitioner Collaborations

This study examined knowledge mobilization and collaboration practices of practitioners in a Canadian provincial park agency, BC Parks. Data was collected through four focus groups, an on line survey (N = 125), and a follow up workshop. Results showed that the most important information sources used by the agency were “internal” (e.g., policy and management guidelines), while “external sources” such as academic researchers or journals were rated lower. However, those who collaborated with outside groups, including academics, and those working in a science capacity within the agency, rated external information sources more positively. Barriers and enabling conditions for effective knowledge mobilization were identified.

Academic-practitioner collaboration in the neoliberal university

ABSTRACT Collaborations between academics and practitioners working in international development hold significant potential to increase the impact and effectiveness of development research and practice. Innovative and successful collaborations can undoubtedly offer rich benefits to all parties involved. At the same time, it is worth noting that calls for increased collaboration are part of broader economic trends that include shrinking financial support for both the higher education and the overseas development assistance sectors. High-level structural and institutional changes that place partners under increased stress can make effective collaborations more difficult to achieve and maintain and can make them costlier from the perspective of human wellbeing.

Academic-practitioner collaboration with communities towards social and ecological transformation

Abstract In this article we offer a discussion around our academic-practitioner involvements with one another and with a targeted community, in relation to a particular project. In the title of the article, we have hyphenated the term academic-practitioner to render fuzzy the distinction between “academic” roles (associated with institutions of higher learning and with professional research) and the roles of “practitioners” operating and learning in the field in engagement with communities. In the article we detail our collaborations with one another and with a farming community in all undertaking (co)inquiries around options for social and ecological development. We explain how this fits the epistemological views as offered by Indigenous authors propounding an Indigenous research paradigm (with transformative intent) to generate visions of realities in-the-making, towards enhanced wellbeing in communities and towards a sustainable future. We provide a detailed example in the course of our deliberations.

From feuding families to networked neighbours

How is collective leadership realized in complex organizational settings? Employing a five-year longitudinal case study of the development of nine academic-practitioner collaborations, we draw on t...

In Search of an Optimal Intersection: Reflections on Academic–Practitioner Collaboration in Japan

How can we best create synergic relationships between academics and practitioners? This article documents and analyzes an ongoing research project on effective social media tactics for successful fundraising in Japan. Academic–practitioner collaboration in this context has not flourished to its full extent. Reflecting on our experience, we identify lessons learned for productive relationships between research and practice: proactively seeking interactive opportunities, exploring mutual strengths to bridge the gaps in mindset and perceptions, and understanding nonprofits’ level of readiness to share data and information. For the achievement of productive relationships between academics and practitioners, the article calls for emphasis on joint knowledge creation, wherein new ideas and insights are developed in collaboration, rather than unidirectional transfer, sharing, or diffusion of knowledge and experience. Subscribe to JNEL

Academic and Practitioner Collaborations in Fundraising Research: A Case Study of One Action Research–Driven Collaboration

Academic and practitioner collaborations can improve both research and practice, particularly in fundraising. This article presents a case study of one academic practitioner collaboration. Jones is an assistant professor from a research-focused university and Daniel holds a development leadership position at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global nonprofit organization with revenues greater than $2 billion. First, we make the case that academic-practitioner collaborations are important and underutilized in fundraising research. Second, we describe our collaboration, including how we got started, the studies we have completed together, and the challenges we faced. Third, we explain the overarching action research approach we took to developing the collaboration as a whole. Finally, we close with recommendations for future collaborations and the implications of future collaborations on fundraising and fundraising research. Subscribe to JNEL

Effective academic–practitioner collaboration on gender research in federal law enforcement: the value of a coproduction process

Coproduction is the latest and most exhaustive model of academic–practitioner collaboration to engage public administration scholarship. Coproduction centers on the production of research as an interactive process where academics and practitioners collaborate across all phases of a research project. This article contributes to the literature by presenting a critical and reflective examination of a personal journey in coproduction, with a well-known federal law enforcement agency, and offers three recommendations for the academic community to effectively tackle their own coproduction efforts. The benefits and challenges of this partnership are presented, emphasizing a less participatory form of coproduction to recognize workplace issues and solutions. The topic of coproduction is relevant in today’s literature for highlighting academic–practitioner collaboration as a tool to advance knowledge. Points for practitioners • Successful academic–practitioner collaborations require three elements: a “champion” in the practitioner community to advance the coproduction partnership; tenured stakeholders; and compromise amid the two communities to advance knowledge. • A less participatory form of coproduction can be equally effective to highlight workplace issues and solutions. • Joint problem solving with academics is essential for understanding the under-representation of women in federal law enforcement.

Causal inference in coupled human and natural systems

Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) are complex, dynamic, interconnected systems with feedback across social and environmental dimensions. This feedback leads to formidable challenges for causal inference. Two significant challenges involve assumptions about excludability and the absence of interference. These two assumptions have been largely unexplored in the CHANS literature, but when either is violated, causal inferences from observable data are difficult to interpret. To explore their plausibility, structural knowledge of the system is requisite, as is an explicit recognition that most causal variables in CHANS affect a coupled pairing of environmental and human elements. In a large CHANS literature that evaluates marine protected areas, nearly 200 studies attempt to make causal claims, but few address the excludability assumption. To examine the relevance of interference in CHANS, we develop a stylized simulation of a marine CHANS with shocks that can represent policy interventions, ecological disturbances, and technological disasters. Human and capital mobility in CHANS is both a cause of interference, which biases inferences about causal effects, and a moderator of the causal effects themselves. No perfect solutions exist for satisfying excludability and interference assumptions in CHANS. To elucidate causal relationships in CHANS, multiple approaches will be needed for a given causal question, with the aim of identifying sources of bias in each approach and then triangulating on credible inferences. Within CHANS research, and sustainability science more generally, the path to accumulating an evidence base on causal relationships requires skills and knowledge from many disciplines and effective academic-practitioner collaborations.