IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i13p10718-d1189046.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Societal Impacts of Higher Education Research: From ‘Publish or Perish’ to ‘Publish and Prosper’ in Business School Scholarship

Author

Listed:
  • David Steingard

    (Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA 19131, USA)

  • Kathleen Rodenburg

    (Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

Abstract

This paper introduces a transformative systems-level framework for understanding the interplay of institutional, cultural, and systemic dynamics influencing the societal impacts of academic research. We introduce and apply the Societal Impacts of Research Institutional Ecosystem (SIRIE) framework to business school scholarship and academic research in higher education. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as SIRIE’s normative ethical framework to benchmark: institutional mission; accreditation bodies’ compliance requirements; faculty tenure and promotion research expectations; the influence of rankings and ratings; and journal quality metrics. Our framework acknowledges the role the Anthropocene Epoch plays in contributing to contemporary social and environmental problems. We argue that recalcitrant institutional forces in academia neutralize the promise of academic scholarship to galvanize meaningful societal impacts. We assert that the contemporary state of higher education research is unfortunately dominated by a “publish or perish” mentality. This narrative produces academic research that is decontextualized from today’s exigent “grand challenges” related to poverty, climate, equity, health, peace, environment, etc., as well as transformative solutions for a sustainable future. By exploring an alternative paradigm for academic research through SIRIE and the SDGs—“publish and prosper”—we detail how academic research can meaningfully contribute to change the world for the better.

Suggested Citation

  • David Steingard & Kathleen Rodenburg, 2023. "Societal Impacts of Higher Education Research: From ‘Publish or Perish’ to ‘Publish and Prosper’ in Business School Scholarship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10718-:d:1189046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10718/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10718/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafols, Ismael & Noyons, Ed & Confraria, Hugo & Ciarli, Tommaso, 2021. "Visualising plural mappings of science for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," SocArXiv yfqbd, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jonathan P. Doh & Lorraine Eden & Anne S. Tsui & Srilata Zaheer, 2023. "Developing international business scholarship for global societal impact," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(5), pages 757-767, July.
    3. Kathleen Rodenburg & Taimoor Rizwan & Ruifeng Liu & Julia Christensen Hughes, 2021. "Enhancing the Positive Impact Rating: A New Business School Rating in Support of a Sustainable Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-26, June.
    4. Kathleen Rodenburg & Vinuli De Silva & Julia Christensen Hughes, 2021. "SDGs: A Responsible Research Assessment Tool toward Impactful Business Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Azmat, Fara & Jain, Ameeta & Sridharan, Bhavani, 2023. "Responsible management education in business schools: Are we there yet?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Richard L. Daft & Arie Y. Lewin, 2008. "Perspective---Rigor and Relevance in Organization Studies: Idea Migration and Academic Journal Evolution," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 177-183, February.
    7. Anete Veidemane, 2022. "Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education Rankings: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Internationally Comparable Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Robson, Keith & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2023. "The cultural fields of accounting practices: Institutionalization and accounting changes beyond the organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Unerman, Jeffrey, 2020. "Risks from self-referential peer review echo chambers developing in research fields," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    10. Kathleen Rodenburg & Michael Rowan & Andrew Nixon & Julia Christensen Hughes, 2022. "The Misalignment of the FT50 with the Achievement of the UN’s SDGs: A Call for Responsible Research Assessment by Business Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-33, August.
    11. Compagnucci, Lorenzo & Spigarelli, Francesca, 2020. "The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    12. Philip Hallinger & Chatchai Chatpinyakoop, 2019. "A Bibliometric Review of Research on Higher Education for Sustainable Development, 1998–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kathleen Rodenburg & Michael Rowan & Andrew Nixon & Julia Christensen Hughes, 2022. "The Misalignment of the FT50 with the Achievement of the UN’s SDGs: A Call for Responsible Research Assessment by Business Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-33, August.
    2. Daniel A. Salas & Paulina Criollo & Angel D. Ramirez, 2021. "The Role of Higher Education Institutions in the Implementation of Circular Economy in Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, August.
    3. Sibilla Montanari & Evi Agostini & Denis Francesconi, 2023. "Are We Talking about Green Skills or Sustainability Competences? A Scoping Review Using Scientometric Analysis of Two Apparently Similar Topics in the Field of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Mohammad Daradkeh, 2023. "Exploring the Curvilinear Relationship between Academic-Industry Collaboration Environment and Innovation Performance: A Multilevel Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Carl Senior & Nick Lee & Michael Butler, 2011. "PERSPECTIVE---Organizational Cognitive Neuroscience," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 804-815, June.
    6. Annita Nugent & Ho Fai Chan & Uwe Dulleck, 2022. "Government funding of university-industry collaboration: exploring the impact of targeted funding on university patent activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 29-73, January.
    7. Anne-Wil Harzing & Isabel Metz, 2013. "Practicing what We Preach," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 169-187, April.
    8. Annamaria Demarinis Loiotile & Francesco De Nicolò & Adriana Agrimi & Loredana Bellantuono & Marianna La Rocca & Alfonso Monaco & Ester Pantaleo & Sabina Tangaro & Nicola Amoroso & Roberto Bellotti, 2022. "Best Practices in Knowledge Transfer: Insights from Top Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    9. Nay Chi Khin Khin Oo & Sirisuhk Rakthin, 2022. "Integrative Review of Absorptive Capacity’s Role in Fostering Organizational Resilience and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-27, October.
    10. Mike W. Peng, 2019. "Global competition and diffusion of the “A” list," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    11. Sungbin Youk & Hee Sun Park, 2019. "Where and what do they publish? Editors’ and editorial board members’ affiliated institutions and the citation counts of their endogenous publications in the field of communication," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1237-1260, September.
    12. Esther Prieto-Jiménez & Luis López-Catalán & Blanca López-Catalán & Guillermo Domínguez-Fernández, 2021. "Sustainable Development Goals and Education: A Bibliometric Mapping Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Kajikawa, Yuya & Mejia, Cristian & Wu, Mengjia & Zhang, Yi, 2022. "Academic landscape of Technological Forecasting and Social Change through citation network and topic analyses," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. de Oliveira, Renan Peres & Lohmann, Gui & Oliveira, Alessandro V.M., 2022. "A systematic review of the literature on air transport networks (1973-2021)," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    15. Anna Palla & Michele Pezzagno & Ilenia Spadaro & Ruggero Ermini, 2024. "Participatory Approach to Planning Urban Resilience to Climate Change: Brescia, Genoa, and Matera—Three Case Studies from Italy Compared," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-25, March.
    16. Zsolt Kohus & Márton Demeter & László Kun & Eszter Lukács & Katalin Czakó & Gyula Péter Szigeti, 2022. "A Study of the Relation between Byline Positions of Affiliated/Non-Affiliated Authors and the Scientific Impact of European Universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    17. Hiep-Hung Pham & Thi-Kieu-Trang Dong & Quan-Hoang Vuong & Dinh-Hai Luong & Tien-Trung Nguyen & Viet-Hung Dinh & Manh-Tung Ho, 2021. "A bibliometric review of research on international student mobilities in Asia with Scopus dataset between 1984 and 2019," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 5201-5224, June.
    18. Sarfraz Aslam & Khalida Parveen & Abdulelah A. Alghamdi & Safdar Abbas & Akhter Habib Shah & Kesavan Vadakalur Elumalai, 2022. "Hopes for the Future: Capturing the Perspectives of Students on Higher Education and Sustainable Development in the Post-Pandemic Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, October.
    19. Marco Taliento, 2022. "The Triple Mission of the Modern University: Component Interplay and Performance Analysis from Italy," World, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-24, July.
    20. Xianbo Li, 2022. "Sequence Model and Prediction for Sustainable Enrollments in Chinese Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-25, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10718-:d:1189046. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.