Broadening Faculty Reward Systems to Support Societally-Impactful Research
A Landscape Scan of Promising Steps Taken by Universities
"Academic reward systems often evaluate a faculty member’s scholarly impact primarily using citation counts and publication metrics, and fail to sufficiently recognize their contributions that impact society, for example through policy outcomes, community development, and technological innovation. There is increasing awareness of the need to adjust the incentive system to better reward societally-impactful research, and that doing so may help universities retain talented faculty, deepen public trust, and increase the impact of their research on issues of global and local significance.
Participants in the Transforming Evidence Funders Network (TEFN), facilitated by The Pew Charitable Trusts, recently commissioned a landscape scan of promising reforms to faculty reward systems. This scan draws upon and analyzes insights from 13 universities and 10 organizations in the United States to illustrate the extent and variety of initiatives underway to enhance recognition of societally-impactful scholarship. It also highlights opportunities for funders to accelerate and sustain these efforts."