Follow us on social media
Find out about events, workshops and more
News_
'Publish or perish': Understanding research culture at Indonesian universities
20 January 2023
International Day of Education is on 24 January
Dr Evan Doran explains his PhD study exploring research culture and productivity in the field of social sciences at three universities in Indonesia.
.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg)
Dr Evan Doran is a PhD candidate in the School of Languages and Cultures exploring research practices, research culture and research productivity at universities in Indonesia, drawing on three in-depth case studies. Already an experienced researcher, Evan has a previous PhD in the field of clinical pharmacology.
Ahead of International Day of Education on 24 January, SSEAC spoke with Evan about the pressures facing social scientists in Indonesia, as the country鈥檚 universities seek to rocket up the rankings, and what led to his interest in this field.
Tell us what your PhD research is all about?
I鈥檓 looking at research culture and research productivity in Indonesia, particularly with regard to social science. I came to the research after spending a year as a research development officer at a university in Makassar, the Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, which is a private university in South Sulawesi. My role was to try and support the staff to develop their research skills and writing output, particularly for scientific journals. While I was there during 2016-17, I witnessed some of the challenges they faced writing and publishing as researchers at a smaller university. As an Australian academic, I was struck by both the differences and similarities in these challenges as compared to here in Australia.
Some of the challenges are greater there, especially with teaching loads, for example. But that pressure to 鈥榩ublish or perish鈥� was pretty much as it was for academics in Australia. If you鈥檙e not producing publications, then your career can lag a bit, and it can have a real impact on your progress. I became intrigued by the similarities and differences between the two systems, and wanted to explore that a little more. I鈥檝e been working with three universities, all state universities that have a degree of independence from the government: Airlangga University in Surabaya, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and the smaller University of Jember.
My research was meant to be an ethnography, but due to COVID-19 I had to switch to online data collection through a survey and interviews. My main focus has been on what it鈥檚 currently like as an Indonesian social scientist trying to research and publish, especially as the government鈥檚 introduced some new rules that actually strengthen the 鈥榩ublish or perish鈥� imperative. If you want to advance your career in the state university system in Indonesia now, you really do need to publish. And there鈥檚 actually a premium on publishing internationally, as Indonesia is trying to raise the status and profile of its universities. It鈥檚 really made the rewards greater if you can publish internationally because that鈥檚 where the points lie for both the University, and now given these new rules, for the academics themselves.
How does this pressure to publish in international English-language journals impact Indonesian academics?
It鈥檚 a huge hurdle for those academics who aren鈥檛 English language proficient. If Australian academics had to publish in Mandarin, for example, Australian academic research productivity would plummet. So it鈥檚 an enormous challenge. Many Indonesian academics have relatively good English speaking skills. But writing can be a different matter and, of course, academic and scientific writing is a different matter altogether. Academics are trying to meet this challenge by working even harder to get published. Often they鈥檙e having to spend more of their personal money to cover the cost of things like translation and proofreading. For those Indonesian academics that are returning from, say, having completed their PhD studies overseas, they鈥檙e at a distinct advantage if they鈥檝e been in an English-language country. And yes, as you mentioned, English is the language of science internationally and that doesn鈥檛 seem like it鈥檚 going to change anytime soon.
.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg)
The Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar campus.
You鈥檝e got a period of field work in Indonesia coming up. What will that involve?
It will include more interview and survey work. I鈥檝e done a number of online interviews and now I aim to spend a few weeks reinterviewing some of the people I鈥檝e already spoken with and really getting to know them. I鈥檒l also do additional interviews with university managers and academics. While I had a reasonable response rate for my initial survey at one of the universities, it was lacking at another university and hasn鈥檛 yet been rolled out at the third university. My main objectives for this field work are to connect with more people and try and increase participation in the survey. Like everywhere, academics are often bombarded with surveys, so it鈥檚 hard to get people excited to fill out a questionnaire. I鈥檓 hoping that by arriving in person, I might be able to interview more people, if not inspire them to complete the survey.
You鈥檝e got a previous doctorate in clinical pharmacology. What led you to want to undertake a second PhD?
When I tried to apply for funding from various sources in Australia to further my research interests sparked while I was in Indonesia, I soon realised that I have no track record in higher education studies in general, no track record in Indonesian studies, and very limited language competence. I thought: well, how does one get a track record in a particular field? How does one make contacts in a particular field? For academics, it鈥檚 generally done during your PhD.
My previous PhD and research experience was largely on policy, affordability and marketing of pharmaceuticals. I鈥檇 had a couple of ARC projects in my own right and that research experience and those skills carried over reasonably well. But there have been new challenges of doing research in a culture that I didn鈥檛 know, and with limited language skills 鈥� which are now much better, but still not as good as I would love them to be. I think a PhD made sense and I have really benefited from the experience of Indonesian-focused researchers like Professor Michele Ford, Dr Natali Pearson, and others such as Dr Liz Kramer in the Indonesian department.聽I鈥檓 also lucky to have the continuing support of my Indonesian sponsors and collaborators 鈥� Dr Amalinda Savirani at Gadjah Mada University, Dr Siti Mas鈥檜dah and Dr Diah Arimbi at Airlangga University and Dr Al Khanif and Dr Agus Trihartono at the University of Jember.