Negotiating research, other academic roles and life: an evaluation of a long-term approach

Research productivity plays an important role in academic careers. However, the process of negotiating research, other roles and life in competitive times has not been fully explained (Barcan 2013, Fowler and Proctor 2008, Leitch 2009, MacIntyre and MacIntyre 1999, Pollard and Oancea 2010). This paper reports on an evaluation of research development during nine writing retreats (Murray and Newton 2009) run at one university over one year. A survey assessed 67 participants’ outputs, and we analysed responses for information about other outcomes. Participants reported changes in how they thought about their research, writing practices and their role as researchers through attending retreats. This transformed their experience of working in a university and prevented a potential disconnect between research and other academic roles. This paper shows that this intervention enabled the articulation of research with other roles and life and created the conditions for growing healthy research cultures at this university.