Academic research is more than just outputs and funding: bridging these two are the researchers who carry out the work.
Research culture and environment
The UK government’s People & Culture strategy estimates that between 2021 and 2030 the total (academic and private) Research and Development (R&D) workforce will need to grow by 150,000. In order to attract and retain this talent the right culture is essential, providing enticing and stable R&D careers for the widest possible range of potential researchers and technicians.
Like any workforce, researchers – including academic researchers – come from a range of backgrounds and have a varied experience of their work and workplace.
18% of research staff working in universities have experience working in other sectors, and more than two-thirds of those working in academic research aspire to an academic career.
Roughly three-quarters of these researchers believe that their institution promotes the highest standards of research integrity. A similar proportion have good job satisfaction and feel valued at work (in contrast to a little over half of the wider population).
18
%
of research staff have experience working in other sectors
75
%
researchers have good job satisfaction and feel valued at work
62
%
of those working in academic research aspire to an academic career
Diversity and inclusion
Nearly one-third of academic research staff working in the UK are not UK nationals, and – of those researchers disclosing their ethnicity – 17% were from ethnic minorities. 20% of researchers had disclosed a disability or health condition. A large majority of researchers agree that their institutions are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. This proportion should increase further as universities continue to address barriers to career progression for underrepresented groups, and the UK government commits to working with funders to improve on challenges around research culture agree that their institutions are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Why is collaboration important?
Collaboration is a significant component of UK research. From 2016–2020, only 18% of publications were produced by a lone author, with the remainder being collaborations within institutions, across multiple institutions within the UK, or internationally.
Collaboration is not just prevalent, it also produces higher impact research. The UK’s high FWCI is partly a product of its high proportion of international collaborations. From 2016–2020, international collaborations by UK researchers produced research with a FWCI of 1.91, versus only 1.36 for collaborations within the UK.