What drives valorisation in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences?

Abstract

Driven by neo-liberalism, universities are increasingly expected to contribute to society in the last decennia. In the Netherlands, valorisation is the term that politics have introduced to capture this new responsibility. Valorisation is defined by the ministry of Education, Culture and Science as ‘the process of creating value from knowledge, by making knowledge suitable or available for economic or social use and to translate to (competing) products, services, processes and new activity’ (Interdepartementale Programmadirectie Kennis en Innovatie, 2009, p8). However, the term has suffered from a limited economic interpretation, both by policy makers and researchers. Literature has stressed the skewed policy attention and the consequential undervaluing of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). Simultaneously, several sources find that HASS valorisation is abundant. This poses a paradox. The current study aims to illuminate this paradox by assessing how and why HASS valorisation emerges in the Netherlands. The results show that HASS is abundant in non-commercial valorisation, both in quantity and in societal impact. Nevertheless, the economic discourse in which valorisation is framed does have negative consequences for HASS, like a lack of practical support, less funding and a negative reputation of valorisation among researchers. Moreover, the economic focus could affect the integrity of science in general, by demanding short-term solutions and results. Therefore, in the future, attention should be paid by policy makers and researchers to clarify and broaden the definition of valorisation. This includes building a more comprehensive understanding of how HASS valorisation contributes to society and incorporate this understanding into science and valorisation policy.