AERA Open - If Mobilizing Educational Research Is the Answer, Who Can Afford to Ask the Question? - An Analysis of Faculty Perspectives on Knowledge Mobilization for Scholarship in Education

Oct 15, 2026

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Explores faculty perspectives across three colleges of education on knowledge mobilization for scholarship in education (KMSE), focusing on opportunities and constraints tied to individual and organizational capacity for change. Faculty surveys (n=66) and follow-up interviews (n=22) indicate KMSE functions as both a complementary agenda and a competing demand, while barriers and uncertainty shape how relevant it feels for faculty careers. Empirically addresses persistent challenges to research relevance, accessibility, and usability in research-intensive universities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

KMSE and faculty career pressures

Metrics, impact, and usability gaps

Knowledge utilization and policy evidence

Tensions and institutional constraints

Academic vs nonacademic stakeholders

Research evaluation and incentives

Toward interactive, social models

Accessibility and usability of educational research

Defining KMSE processes

AERA Open January-March 2018, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858417750133 © The Author(s) 2018. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) If Mobilizing Educational Research Is the Answer, Who Can Afford to Ask the Question? An Analysis of Faculty Perspectives on Knowledge Mobilization for Scholarship in Education Gustavo E. Fischman Kate T. Anderson Arizona State University Adai A. Tefera Virginia Commonwealth University Steven J. Zuiker Arizona State University This article explores faculty perspectives at three colleges of education regarding strategies of knowledge mobilization for scholarship in education (KMSE), with consideration for the opportunities and challenges that accompany individual and organizational capacities for change. Faculty surveys (n = 66) and follow-up interviews (n = 22) suggest two important trends: First, KMSE presents both a complementary agenda and a competing demand; second, barriers and uncertainties characterize the relevance of knowledge mobilization for faculty careers in colleges of education. This study empirically illuminates the persistence of long-standing challenges regarding the relevance, accessibility, and usability of research in colleges of education housed in research-intensive universities. While KMSE holds promise for expanding the reach and impact of educational research, scholarly tensions underlying these trends suggest that individual and organizational efforts will suffice only with modifications to university procedures for identifying what counts as recognizable, assessable, and rewardable scholarly products and activities for faculty careers. Keywords: knowledge mobilization, research impact, usability Today it is rare to find a college of education (COE) that does not request faculty to include metrics in annual reports of their scholarly productivity (e.g., number of articles published in high–impact factor journals, H-factors, altmetrics, citations, funded grants) . At the same time, faculty and COEs alike often struggle to understand if and how the educational research they produce is useful and used among wider stakeholders (Southerland, Gadsden, & Herrington, 2014) . The gap between research production and potential use is likewise reflected in university promotion and tenure practices, which increasingly rely on indirect measures of research quality (Cooper, 2015a) . For example, the journal impact factor (JIF) is a metric that reveals little about the quality or relevance of any article, yet it remains one of the most influential indicators for research accountability and to distribute incentive (Piwowar, 2013) . Many scholars recognize the limitations of indirect metrics and seek to broaden definitions of scholarly impact (e.g., San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment by DORA, 2012; see O’Neill, 2016; Simons, 2008; Vanclay, 2012). Nevertheless, these critical calls are complicated by something many scholars often concede in whispers: Potential nonacademic users of educational research (e.g., teachers, principals, board members, policy makers, journalists, the public) may not perceive the relevance or value of educational scholarship (Schneider, 2015; Shavelson & Towne, 2002; Yohalem & Tseng, 2015). Recurrent, often conflicting, tensions for (a) measurable research productivity based on academic standards and (b) counterpressures for accountability to nonacademic stakeholders reflect education’s standing as a professional field in universities organized around scientific fields, which traditionally reward theoretical/experimental paradigms in research (Berliner, 2002) . These tensions resonate with broader challenges associated with research utilization. The National Research Council (Prewitt, Schwandt, & Straf, 2012) report Using Science as Evidence in Public Policy similarly highlights the fact that how and why research is useful and used remains unclear. The relationships be

FAQs

What does the study examine regarding knowledge mobilization in education?

It examines faculty perspectives on strategies of knowledge mobilization for scholarship in education (KMSE), including opportunities and challenges connected to capacities for change at both individual and organizational levels.

What two key trends do the survey and interview findings suggest?

First, KMSE acts as both a complementary agenda and a competing demand. Second, barriers and uncertainties characterize how relevant knowledge mobilization is perceived for faculty careers in colleges of education.

Why does the article argue that research utilization remains challenging?

It highlights persistent difficulties in relevance, accessibility, and usability of educational research, noting that relationships between science and policy do not follow simple or uniformly rational decision-making models.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher