The Diversity Agenda

1
The Diversity Agenda Research What does it
mean for the ATN

• Professor Linda Kristjanson
• Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Development
• Curtin University of Technology

2
Diversity Agenda Research

• Diversity Message
• Implications
• Capacity to specify and define our research
  leadership strengths
• Validity of our claims by measures of quality and
  impact
• Tension between research focus and need to inform
  a broader teaching agenda
• Responses and Resolves

3
Capacity to specify and define our research
strengths

• Take stock Assess, Define and Refine
• Identifying research strengths - Focus,
  Consolidate, Capture
• Examine depth and breadth of research teams and
  sustainability

4
Validity of our claims by measures of quality and
impact

• DEST Indicators of Quality ? RQF
• Challenge proposed narrowness of quality
  assessment limited to national and international
  competitive grants alone
• Counter-force to diversity agenda
• Under-values the evaluation processes within
  industry and government
• Temptation to move away from industry-and
  government based research

5
Validity of our claims by measures of quality
and impact

• Measures of Impact
• Immaturity of methods and details of the audit
  trail
• Lack of familiarity with reporting
• Quality as pre-requisite for impact assessment

6
Tension between research focus and need to inform
a broader teaching agenda

• Diversity agenda encourages specificity and
  narrowing of areas of research excellence
• Universities teach across a wide range of areas,
  even while specifying areas of strength
• Pressure to build a teaching-research nexus makes
  the match between a narrow research agenda and a
  broader teaching portfolio a challenge

7
Response Resolves Key Strategies

• Know who we are
• Stay on course (markers, sails, crew)
• Recognise the Competition and Compete
  Aggressively
• Maintain Attention to Quality and Impact
• Build our research culture
• Maintain linkages to teaching and learning
• Market our Contributions

8
Knowing Who we Are

• Focused Research Effort
• Coordinated Teamwork
• Optimisation of Talent
• Reward and recognition
• Research Training, Mentorship, Direction
• Retention and recruitment of staff

9
Recognising the Competition

• Increased movement across the sector
• Salary inflation
• Need to identify factors to attract and retain
  good staff
• Value staff
• Attention to the workplace environment
• Target talent and build teams to guard against
  losses

10
Fostering a Research Culture

• Key ingredients to a vibrant research culture
• People, Ideas, Vision
• Inventory RO, T R, Teaching scholars
• Critically evaluate extent of research ethos
• Define expectations and standards
• Identify Gaps, Strengths Opportunities
• Maximise opportunities for collaborative
  models/alliances

11
Fostering a Research Culture

• Remove the barriers
• Infrastructure support simple accountability
  processes
• Positive attention to governance issues
• Proactive guidance related to IP, authorship and
  commercialisation issues

12
Research Culture Essentials

• Resilience
• Ability to work with others
• Funding opportunities
• Links -industry/govt

• Goals focus
• Research leadership
• Skill blend - talent
• Energy
• Risk taking tendencies

13
Summary

• The Diversity Message A Call to recognise our
  unique areas of research leadership
• IDEAS, PEOPLE VISION are the core ingredients
  of a successful research culture
• Commitment to high quality research with focus on
  potential impact