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The human costs of the research-assessment culture

Large-scale evaluation permeates the UK university system, but some countries are rejecting harsh judgements and emphasizing strategic development.
  1. Rachel Brazil

    1. Rachel Brazil is a freelance journalist in London, UK.

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Stylised illustration showing a hand in the shadows holding a dangling weighing scale with a star rating system on it and a woman sitting amongst piles of papers in a weighing basket.

Illustration: Stephan Schmitz

The term ‘REF-able’ is now in common usage in UK universities. “Everyone’s constantly thinking of research in terms of ‘REF-able’ outputs, in terms of ‘REF-able’ impact,” says Richard Watermeyer, a sociologist at the University of Bristol, UK. He is referring to the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF), which is meant to happen every seven years and is one of the most intensive systems of academic evaluation in any country. “Its influence is ubiquitous — you can’t escape it,” says Watermeyer. But he and other scholars around the world are concerned about the effects of an extreme audit culture in higher education, one in which researchers’ productivity is continually measured and, in the case of the REF, directly tied to research funding for institutions. Critics say that such systems are having a detrimental effect on staff and, in some cases, are damaging researchers’ mental health and departmental collegiality.

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Nature 633, 481-484 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02922-4

References

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