The President's Lunch
20th December 2011
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"Why, when we have a world-class academic community,
is the impact of academic research on policy making so poor?" asked John Denham MP, recalling his ten years as a minister during which the impact of social science on public policy had been "nowhere near as strong as it should be." It was this sense that drove him to include impact in first development of the REF. He had noticed that policy focused researchers had been regarded as a drag on their departments and he wanted to focus the academic research community on to how to change policy.
The former (and only) Secretary of State at DIUS was speaking to the 2011 President's Lunch at the Royal Society of Arts in London. He told the audience of Academicians and their guests about the "unnecessary fog of misunderstanding" that surrounded policy making, noting that MPs are happy to acknowledge their lack of knowldege about natural science and seek 
informed advice, but regard too many social science matters as simply 'commonsense' and fail to see the need for informed input. Mr Denham called for better dialogue between the academics and policy makers on framing the questions. In the USA, he noted, there is a good stream from academics to policy makers but, here, academic work was seen to be too slow and recommendations to arrive too late. The danger was that more pragmatic thinktanks step into the gap but bringing with them all their ideological assumptions and values.
"It is difficult to overstate the importance of getting this relationship right," he added, noting the importance of the Public Understanding of Science. He drew attention to the Science Media Centre set up in the wake of the MMR 'disaster', which had improved the quality of information available to the media, and recently a new education media centre had been set up to fulfil a similar function on educational matters.
Future public policy challenges crying out for social science input surround developing a successful economy which is globally competitive and yet also capable of bearing the weight of jobs and opportunities in which the provision of public goods will be key. Universities are some of the most successful bodies in the UK, and they are neither market-driven nor top-down directed. This should be acknowledged, he said.
John Denham concluded by pointing out that, increasingly, politicians are preoccupied with public behaviour such as GM foods and obesity, as well as deep questions of national identity. Social science is already playing a key role, especially in the Well Being and Social Inequality agendas (led by Richard Layard, Richard Wilkinson and Danny Dorling AcSS), but it is not enough - more is required.
"I really believe in social science and really believe that we can make the case more strongly by arguing positively, said Professor Paul Boyle, head of the ESRC. "I am proud of the Academy for stepping up to that challenge."
He outlined the world class status and quality of UK social science. "I don't see social science in crisis," he said, "I see it as world class and we should argue for it on the basis of its excellence." He talked about the ESRC Benchmarking reviews, which consistently show that UK social science is second only to the bigger and far better resourced USA; even so many individual disciplines in the UK including psychology are actually the world leaders. Quoting the statistics, he demonstrated that UK social science "punches well above its weight" and "we really are doing exceptionally well, but are not doing enough to say so."
He drew attention to the problem of leaving work to make its own impact whilst the researcher moves on to seeking the next reserach grant and noted how this situation was being improved by designing impact into research bids from the very start.
He then outlined the six main challenges facing the ESRC in the future: how to prioritise research in the face of national and international pressures; how to maintain the long term infrastructure (especially data sets); how to ensure the skill levels of the next generation of reserachers - from school up; how to build international engagement; how to encourage engagement with government, business and other stakeholders; how to ensure good work has an impact and makes the case for social science.
He noted ESRC initiatives designed to tackle these challenges and the successes that were resulting - from the ESRC/GSR analysts portal providing links betweeen academics and government analysts [click here], to the work inputting into government consultations, to schemes to raise levels of quantitative expertise at school and undergradutate level. However, the messages are still not always getting through. The science and potential economic benefits may be clear - for example on the benefits of minimum alcohol pricing -but 'politics' often get in the way. Hence the new 'What Works' centres, supported with additional government funding, to synthesise evidence and help design interventions.
Welcoming Professor Boyle's words, the Academy's President, Professor Sir Howard Newby AcSS, asked that investment in human capital - the training of future senior policy figures - should not be overlooked or its importance underestimated. This investment translated well into impact through the intellectual capital created. The Academy, via its work, including its Making the Case for the Social Sciences series of booklets, is committed to engagement with both the wider public and the private sector.
The President then presented certificates to new Academicians, welcoming them into the key representative body for social science.
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Sadly, Shabana Mahmood was unable to attend and give her views on the future for Higher Education, owing to a last minute family illness.
