Impact and engagement - a conversation with Professor Priscilla Dunk-West

·20 min·1 clip

Professor Priscilla Dunk-West explains why impact is the Kylie Minogue and engagement the Danny Minogue of research culture.

The episode begins with host Tara Brabazon introducing Professor Priscilla Dunk-West, head of social work at Victoria University. Brabazon frames the discussion around the paired concepts of impact and engagement, which are frequently used but poorly differentiated in research assessment frameworks like the REF and ERA. Dunk-West immediately links the conversation to research quality and ethics, stating that you cannot assess quality without considering ethics. She provides a stark example: unethical research, such as World War Two experiments, can have high impact but is fundamentally flawed. This leads to her definition of impact as changes in practice, policy, or models, such as the social model of disability. Engagement, in contrast, is about involving stakeholders from the research problem's conception. Dunk-West emphasizes that engagement should be iterative, involving communities with lived experience throughout the project, not just as subjects. She critiques top-down research approaches and advocates for 'walking with' communities. The discussion touches on practical measurement, with Dunk-West noting impact can be evidenced through policy documents, service provision changes, and non-traditional metrics like social media or newspaper syndication. Brabazon adds the importance of researchers tracking their own impact by maintaining a file of where their work is cited or used. For early career researchers, Dunk-West recommends developing a sociological imagination, serving on ethics committees, and understanding the historical context of their field. The episode concludes with mutual appreciation and a reminder of the ethical foundations necessary for meaningful research impact and engagement.

As heard by us

A clear look at how impact and engagement are evidenced beyond citations.

Tara Brabazon and Professor Priscilla Dunk-West take on two terms that are often treated as obvious: impact and engagement. Rather than letting them blur together, they separate them carefully and keep the discussion anchored in practical evidence, from policy and procedure…

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Why you'd press play

If your research needs a paper trail, this conversation brings one.

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