For Ethical 'Impactology'

The routine evaluation of broader impacts of research has made the UK an impact-aware culture, although the practice of assessment has run ahead of its theory. The paper describes UK practice in assessing broader impacts, notes the rise of the profession of ‘impactology’ alongside the rise of academics’ impact-fatigue, and notes that the two combined may lead us to commit ‘metricide’ by abandoning time-consuming impact narratives in favour of simple metrics. The paper concludes by considering what an ethical impactology might look like, and finds at its heart the responsible use and non-use of metrics

Assessment of the online business support offer : growth and improvement service, my new business and helpline

This study provides the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) with an early understanding of whether online business support services provided by Business Link have performed effectively against the strategic objective of ‘digital transformation’. That is to successfully assist businesses through a website rather than through higher cost services (for example face to face contact). The study also makes an early assessment of the value of the services provided to new users, with a focus on cost effectiveness and effective referral to other appropriate business support services in the public, private and third sectors. The support services include the comprehensive start-up service provided by My New Business, and online tools provided by the Growth Improvement Service, enabling businesses to identify and solve problems

Reclaiming professional identity through postgraduate professional development: Career practitioners reclaiming their professional selves

Careers advisers in the UK have experienced significant change and upheaval within their professional practice. This research explores the role of postgraduate level professional development in contributing to professional identity. The research utilises a case study approach and adopts multiple tools to provide an in-depth examination of practitioners’ perceptions of themselves as professionals within their lived world experience. It presents a group of practitioners struggling to define themselves as professionals due to changing occupational nomenclature resulting from shifting government policy. Postgraduate professional development generated a perceived enhancement in professional identity through exposure to theory, policy and opportunities for reflection, thus contributing to more confident and empowered practitioners. Engagement with study facilitated development of confident, empowered practitioners with a strengthened sense of professional self

Establishing a new UK finance escalator for innovative SMEs: the roles of the Enterprise Capital Funds and Angel Co-investment Fund

This paper examines UK public policy addressing the seed and early stage equity finance gap since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Drawing on lessons learned from recent studies of UK and international government equity schemes, two contemporary models of government backed equity finance are examined. The focus is on the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) and the Angel Co-investment Fund (ACF), the UK government’s main schemes operating in the sub-£2m equity finance gap to address the capital requirements for developing the UK’s young, potential high growth businesses. The paper highlights the shortcomings of traditional interim fund performance analysis and presents current demand and supply side evidence that establishes that these schemes are making attributable impacts on their portfolio businesses and the wider UK economy. It also demonstrates that they are playing important roles in the establishment of a new post GFC UK finance escalator. However, whilst these schemes were found to be currently complementary and effective, their future roles within the UK’s evolving post GFC seed and early stage equity markets are also considered. Key Words: Government Equity Schemes, Venture Capital, Potential High Growth SME

Academic libraries and student engagement: a literature review

The term ‘student engagement’ has a broad meaning and is used freely as an expression in several different contexts of academic librarianship. This literature review covers scholarship from across several of these areas and is structured so that four broad themes are systematically addressed: student engagement in learning; students as partners; student voice; methods and techniques for student engagement. The granular review of the literature reveals many sub-discussions about a range of academic librarianship topics and provides some discussion about how they cross over into the area of student engagement. The literature covers different innovations, techniques and strategies for student engagement, and the review illustrates how many techniques and tools are transferable across the different intentions and objectives of student engagement. The review concludes that many academic librarians are very proactive in student engagement activities and that student engagement itself has become a fundamental element of academic library management