Navigating the clinician-researcher role in health social work: Reflections from practice

This Voices from Practice article shares reflections of two social workers on our dual-role experiences when conducting qualitative health research as trained clinicians. Reflections and considerations are shared for health care social work research trainees to prepare for and navigate the integration of the clinician-researcher role in social work.

Riding shotgun – Front-seat research and the socio-material considerations of ethnography on the move

In this article, we explore methodological considerations of using the car as space for ethnographic research on police work. With a socio-material perspective, we are concerned about how the car’s particular materiality and mobility shapes social interaction that takes place within it. We argue that this affects the researcher role, and that the researcher’s spatial position in the car affects the researcher role further. The position’s impact on interaction is made evident when the researcher is ‘riding shotgun’, rather than being placed in the back seat. We argue that this front-seat role comes with increased reciprocity towards the driver/officer, demanding a more (inter) active research practice. Hence, the riding shotgun position potentially increases the empirical input with the closer interaction between the researched and the researcher. More generally, the case illustrates the very delicate considerations of researcher positioning within ethnography on the move.

Exploring the predictor of innovative teaching using the job demands-resources model

Introduction. To keep in pace and remain competitive in today's environment, the lecturer must do innovation in educational process. However, encouraging lecturers' willingness to do innovative teaching is challenging in higher education due to the dual roles as teachers and researchers, which makes the excessive workload and leads to the teacher-researcher role conflict (TRC). Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the impact of TRC on the innovative teaching of lecturers. The present study utilises the job demands-resources (JDR) model due to its high popularity but rarely used in higher education.Aim. This study is aimed to explore the predictor of innovative teaching by utilising the JDR model as a theoretical anchor.Methodology and research methods. This study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the research model on a random sample of 233 respondents.Results. The results indicated that teacher-researcher role conflict negatively predicted the innovative teaching of the lecturer. Besides, the occupational well-being is a mediating variable to explain the influence of teacher-researcher role conflict on innovative teaching.Scientific novelty. This study reveals innovative teaching predictors in higher education by using the JDR model as a theoretical anchor. The authors found out that teacher-researcher role conflict (TRC) was significantly related to innovative teaching. The high-level expression of TRC will reduce the lecturer's innovative behaviour on teaching activity, and vice versa.Practical significance. The current study provides critical insight into the related stakeholders, such as the universities and related ministries, regarding the negative predictor of innovative teaching. They should discover approaches to reduce the negative effect of TRC on the innovation behaviour of lecturer teaching activity and to address the problem of job role conflict.

Does Teacher-Researcher Role Conflict Influence Psychological Well-Being Among the Lecturers?

The lecturer is a profession with two different functions: a teacher and a researcher. Teaching and research activities are inseparable and reciprocal and provide great benefit for lecturers. But, doing those activities simultaneously makes a high workload for the lecturer. This research employed the job demands-resources model to investigate the link between teacher-researcher role conflict and psychological well-being. This research was carried out on 250 lecturers in East Java, coming from three big cities, Surabaya, Malang, and Jember, taken by random sampling. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the research model. The results found that the teacher-researcher role conflict has a significant negative effect on work enthusiasm. On the contrary, the teacher-researcher role conflict has a significant positive effect on emotional exhaustion. These findings provide evidence to stakeholders (Universities and The Ministry of Education and Culture) to be more concerned about the dual role that lecturers must carry out as a teacher and a researcher.

Factors influencing researchers’ journal selection decisions

The scholarly publication landscape continues to grow in complexity, presenting researchers with ever-increasing dilemmas regarding journal choice. However, research into the decision-making processes associated with journal choice is limited. This article contributes by reporting on an international survey of researchers in various disciplines and with varying levels of experience. The study examines the extent to which various journal characteristics affect journal selection, perceptions of the extent to which university and national research policies impact on their journal choice, and the influence of academics’ familiarity, confidence and objectives on journal choice. The most important factors influencing journal choice were as follows: reliability of reviewing, usefulness of reviewers’ feedback, the reputation of the journal and confidence that their article is in scope for the journal. Publishing productivity, publishing experience, researcher role and discipline had little impact on the ranking of journal choice factors, suggesting that the research community is homogeneous.

Does Perceived Organizational Support Mitigate the Negative Effect of Teacher- Researcher Role Conflict among Lecturers? (Evidence from Indonesia)

This study investigated the role of perceived organizational support (POS) as a moderating variable in reducing the negative effect of teacher-researcher role conflict on psychological well-being (work enthusiasm and emotional exhaustion). Participants were 233 lecturers from 19 universities in Indonesia. The study found that teaching-research role conflict was negatively related to psychological well-being, POS was a significant moderating variable in this model, it reduced the negative effect of teacher-researcher role conflict on psychological well-being.

‘Me, a teacher?!’ – Professional role identification and role activation of psychology PhD students

Purpose Developing professional identities as both researchers and teachers is core to doctoral students’ growth. Given the primacy of research for the university career, this study aimed at answering the following questions: how much do doctoral students identify with the teacher compared to the researcher role? Can the teacher role identity be purposely activated? Design/methodology/approach In an experimental study with 167 psychology PhD students, trait role identification was measured using a questionnaire. Afterward, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions differing in the picture material (research vs teaching pictures vs a mixture of both) provided for creating a collage reflecting their roles. Subsequently, answers to open questions were coded and quantified as indicators of state role identity. Findings As a trait, doctoral students identified more strongly with their researcher role than with their teacher role. Teacher role identity as a state was successfully activated when doctoral students engaged with teaching pictures compared to the other conditions. Practical implications As the researcher role seems to be the default setting for PhD students, activation of the teacher role has the potential to benefit work satisfaction of PhD students and the quality of their teaching. Originality/value Taking both long- and short-term identification processes in PhD students into account is a promising new approach. Besides, quantitative data are added to the field of qualitative insights on PhD students’ professional roles.