Research for Social Change

Inclusive Research: Challenges and The Better Way

The Status Quo

Academic institutions operate within frameworks of structural and institutional Barriers, legacy systems and entrenched hierarchies that have been established over centuries. These frameworks were designed around a very narrow demographic group and created invisible barriers that remain in place despite years of well-intentioned initiatives around diversity. The metrics of academic success, including publication counts, citation indices, and grant funding, perpetuate the advantages that have been entrenched for decades rather than capturing the full spectrum of valuable contributions to academic research. There are barriers to implementing inclusive research at the level of individual researchers as well. Mindset is everything.

Paradigms exist at the macro and micros system level. If researchers themselves do not see the value added that comes from inclusive research, they are not likely to make forays into that arena. For example, the academic reward system as it exists now presents a fundamental challenge. Career advancement in the university setting typically depends on rapid publication in high-impact journals. Inclusive research, by contrast, often requires longer timeframes for community engagement, relationship building, and culturally responsive methodology development. This mismatch in timeframes from the perspective of career advancement creates a structural disadvantage for researchers committed to inclusive practices and contributes to the mindset of those who might want to engage in inclusive research but have larger career ambitions.

Other structural barriers to inclusive research include issues with Resource Allocation and Access. Designing and implementing a study through an Inclusive research methodology demands additional resources that are not necessarily present with traditional research methodologies. There must be time allocated for community consultation, funding allocations for accessibility accommodations, support for multilingual materials, and compensation for community partners.

Geographic differences add to the complicated equation of funding. Researchers who have the good fortune to be operating in an academic institution that is designated an R1 university, meaning they have access to a minimum of $50 million in total annual research expenditures, enjoy advantages in terms of infrastructure, technical support, and networking opportunities that are not available to colleagues at smaller institutions or in resource-constrained regions. This creates an uneven playing field that undermines the very diversity that inclusive research seeks to promote.

Barriers...

Despite the growth of inclusive research across a wide spectrum of academic and professional landscapes, there remain barriers and challenges in implementing inclusive research even when there is the will to do so. These challenges take the form of Methodological Complexities such as Balancing Rigor with Accessibility which is by far one of the most persistent challenges facing inclusive research. Criticism of inclusive research from the perspective of academic rigor and genuine accessibility comes down to the question of whether inclusive approaches compromise research quality. The rebuttal to this point is that exclusionary practices themselves undermine the validity and reliability of research by limiting the scope of inquiry and the populations studied.

Another challenge with included research practice that should be duly noted lies in the creating true and genuine Representation versus mere Tokenism. To achieve meaningful representation in research, presents some difficulty because it involves more than just meeting a designated numerical threshold for a given demographic. Navigating the divide between acknowledging diverse perspectives and avoiding tokenistic approaches that treat participants as representatives of entire communities can be a huge challenge that many researchers may not have the soft skills it takes to meet with success in this area. The risk here is that well-intentioned efforts can perpetuate harm if they fail to meaningfully share power, provide reciprocal benefits, or respect community priorities and knowledge systems.

There are also practical challenges to the implementation of inclusive practices that include training and capacity building, time allotment and overall sustainability of the project. Many researchers lack adequate training in inclusive research practices, cultural competency, and community engagement. Inclusive research is inherently time-intensive. Building authentic relationships with community partners, developing culturally responsive protocols, and ensuring meaningful participation all require significant investments of time. Yet academic timelines are driven by degree requirements, funding cycles, and career pressures. Sustainability requires long-term commitment that can be in short supply.

Other areas where researchers have met with some difficulty in the implementation of inclusive practices include bridging the technological divide, including issues like infrastructure, access, privacy issues and concerns of data sovereignty. Ways to address these challenges include building a great deal of flexibility into the research design and avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches and tools.

The Better Way

Addressing the challenges facing inclusive research requires systemic transformation, community-centred approaches, and evolving innovation in approaches and methodologies. This includes revising the criteria for tenure and promotion to include valuing community engagement and inclusive practices. It will also include researchers who are willing to relinquish some control over research agendas and processes in an effort to share power with community partners in meaningful ways. Lastly, the better way may include exploring creative data collection methods, developing culturally responsive analytical approaches, and establishing new standards for evaluating the quality and impact of inclusive research.

In the end

It is true that inclusive research practices face barriers that are complex and multifaceted. However, the barriers present an opportunity to implement systems thinking approaches to overcome them. The evidence is clear that progress has been made in recognizing the importance of inclusion; however, significant barriers remain that prevent the full realization of research's potential to serve all communities.

The better way demands an abandonment of legacy problem-solving strategies and traditional mechanistic thinking. Change occurs at the level of paradigm in organizations, institutions, social systems and in the mind of researchers themselves.