Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
Download this issue of Dialogue [PDF: Filesize
238.90 kB]
President's Report
Fay Gale
Great social scientists
In this issue of Dialogue we commence a program of recognising key social scientists. We are regularly reminded in various ways, such as through the media and school curricula, of the great scientists of the past and those in the present. These are primarily men and always from the physical and natural sciences. But there are now and have been for generations great social scientists whose contributions to the human race are just as significant as those of many eminent physical scientists. It is all part of society's failure to recognise the worth of social scientists whilst placing physical scientists on a pedestal. It is also a result of our own difficulty in identifying ourselves as social scientists as well as belonging to particular disciplines. We ask the perennial question, why is it easy to be called a scientist in the generic sense but not a social scientist?
For these reasons and our concern that our eminent social scientists are not given the recognition that leading scientists seem to achieve, we have decided to highlight individual 'greats' and clearly these are women as well as men. There are many amongst our fellowship whose contribution is outstanding and not fully recognised. We begin here in this Dialogue to recognise some of our great social scientists and to appreciate that their contribution to knowledge and the greater good equals that of leading physical and natural scientists.
Review of our Academy
Since my last report a great deal of brainstorming has gone into the preparation of our submission to the Review of the Learned Academies. I am very appreciative of the contribution of the Academy staff, small and overworked as it is, to this vital submission. I should also wish to acknowledge the input of members of our key committees. The draft submission was discussed at each committee meeting and the Executive during April before the final submission was printed.
Because this review is the most significant activity the Academy has been engaged in since my last report in Dialogue, I should like to quote key passages of the submission to enable all Fellows to gain some idea of the concepts being placed before the Minister.
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is extremely successful in developing the social sciences across the whole range of disciplines. Through its initiating work in transdisciplinary areas of emerging knowledge it links scholars nationally and internationally. There is no area of intellectual pursuit that is not relevant to the social sciences or does not have social repercussions. All scientific endeavour impacts upon humans and their environment. It is from that premise of the importance of social science and its increasing relevance to the modern world that we present this submission.
There has been rapid and unprecedented change in Australian - and global - society. While technological and/or scientific factors may have provided the means for change, those technological and scientific factors are in human hands. Change is caused by human activities, affects human beings and the problems generated by change need to be resolved by human beings. That essentially involves the social sciences.
It is the role of the social sciences to study complex human responses and to provide an understanding on which effective and equitable public policies can be developed. Australia's own material and non-material development and welfare depend crucially on the maintenance of excellence in the social sciences in Australia. The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia sees its role as contributing to nurturing that excellence.
Since its establishment, over 25 years ago, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has elected to its ranks those of a very high level of scholarly distinction, recognised internationally, and who are acknowledged for their contributions in one or more disciplines of the social sciences. As an entity the Academy is devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the various social sciences. Fellows of the Academy make a major contribution to knowledge and understanding and ensure the dissemination of that knowledge to Australian society. Fellows of the Academy respond positively to requests for consultative involvement in public policy development. They do this in a variety of ways, through submissions, through membership of appropriate committees, and through interchange with students, government officials, politicians, the community, and the media.
This Review of our activities in the period 1995-2000 is concerned by some perceptions that Australia is not a country which particularly values scholarship and intellectual life. It is the worse for this. Anything which promotes intellectual life is to be welcomed, especially across the disciplines.
At the AGM at the end of 1999 a Research Projects Committee was formally established with Professor Sue Richardson as Chair. In a very brief time this committee has been very active and has developed a number of research proposals. The establishment of a committee was necessary because our research areas were growing rapidly with several interdisciplinary social science projects on the table. I quote from the review submission on two of our latest projects.
The Academy considered it timely to examine the effects of unemployment on the community at the family level, including the implications for population health. As the Minister for Employment Services stated in a speech to CEDA on 30 June 1999: 'the fact that our society can wipe out killer diseases, solve unimaginably difficult technical problems, create wealth out of cyberspace - and not find something useful for everyone to do - creates a nagging sense of impatience and shame …'
There is increasing evidence in Australia of the links between socio-economic status and health parameters. At the same time there is a need to draw on the lessons of international experience to study how policies have been successfully implemented elsewhere, beyond the parameters of narrow economic costing, and to avoid the limitations of earlier studies.
It is on this basis that the Academy obtained Special Projects Funding in 2000 to undertake a research project, which will examine inter alia; the changing nature of unemployment in Australia; its longer-term duration and geographical location; and noting the implications of the synthesis or policies to alleviate the costs of unemployment.
Postgraduate Training in the Social Sciences
A sharpening of the focus on social sciences education, recognises that society's needs are continually changing.
Continued national investment and attention is necessary to expand high quality education and research activities, not only in technologies, but also in social and cultural areas, increasingly relevant to the global knowledge economy. Postgraduate education develops our best minds in research for its own sake and for its relevance for technological development. Just as investment in physical capital enhances productivity, investment in intellectual capital generates a similar return to the economy and society in general.
As outlined in the recent Discussion Paper on Higher Education Research and Research Training entitled New Knowledge, New Opportunities, research training represents one of the most significant areas of national investment in research. Not only is the 'public investment in research training significant in dollar terms, but also in its impact on the research community and society more generally.'
We have emphasised the importance of our workshop program in the review submission because of its important contribution to social science.
Nowhere is the Academy's role as a catalyst more evident than in the Workshop Program. The Program provides the biggest outreach function within the Academy's overall activity. In the Review period the Academy supported 24 workshops, involving leading experts in a wide range of disciplines and participating institutions and organisations across Australia. The program consists of a series of workshops which examines intellectual and practical concerns, with a forward-looking emphasis on problems confronting Australian society.
The aim is to bring together those working at the leading edge of research for an intense (generally two-day) period of intellectual exchange designed to address current theoretical and/or methodological concerns and generate new ideas often directed at informing policy. The overall purpose of the workshops is to advance knowledge and to promote its application through the dissemination of workshop outcomes.
A defining feature of the workshops is their multidisciplinary focus. Workshop organisers are actively encouraged to invite participants from across the broad spectrum of social science, including though not restricted to, Fellows of the Academy.
The role of the Academy's Workshop Committee is crucial to the nature and success of the Workshop program. In addition to reviewing the proposals submitted, the Committee provides extensive feedback to potential workshop convenors about the range of perspectives to be included. It also initiates possible workshop topics, actively seeks convenors and, once identified facilitates the planning and development of a firm proposal.
The Academy's Workshop Program is unique within the activities of the Learned Academies. It has become a major facilitator of collective work in the social sciences, and during the period of review has studied issues within 24 convened workshops.
The Academy plans to further develop the Program in the next five years. This will include making the Program more accessible to both younger scholars and those outside the Fellowship, and to further increase the interdisciplinary capacity of the Academy by involving the new crossdisciplinary areas.
Management of the Workshop Program is based on responding appropriately and within a short timeframe to current issues and concerns that involve the many disciplines of the social sciences. The Workshop Program complements the longer-term research projects as a vital part of the Academy's research activities.
We also highlighted the achievements of the Academy in recent years, as well as some of the difficulties faced, particularly that of a lack of appropriate channels for direct advice to government.
There have been considerable achievements by the Academy since the last Review. Not the least has been the development of substantial and highly respected international activities; the compilation of a Directory of Fellows; the release of the final volume in the series Australia in Asia, along with many other significant publications; the move to the new, independent Canberra headquarters of the Academy at 28 Balmain Crescent, Acton; and the collaborative linkages established with the other Learned Academies, within the National Academies Forum. In that period the membership of the Academy has increased from 285 in 1995 to 348 in 1999 noting that its membership in 1970 was 94.
It is significant to note that in the last 10 years the Academy has progressively improved the gender balance in the election of Fellows. In 1990 the percentage of females elected to the Academy was 18%. It has steadily increased since that time. Over the past five years it has been 19% (1995), 20% (1996), 29% (1997), 33% (1998), and 55% (1999). There is currently an excellent gender balance in the membership of the Academy's Executive Committee and also in its Standing Committee.
Despite its current benefits the international program has major limitations due to staff restrictions and financial resources. The program has the ability to enhance the reputation of Australians abroad, to facilitate our access to new ideas and research findings and encourage senior social scientists in other countries to recognise Australian social science research and perspectives. The program also recognises the importance of supporting future leaders, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, who at the early stage of their career could benefit from links established within academic structures such as the Academy.
There have, however, been disappointments particularly in failures of efforts to provide a focal point for social sciences within Government:
During the past five years the Academy has pressed the case for the establishment of a 'coordinating and promotional body for social science research' within the Commonwealth's administration in submissions to inquiries, media releases, articles in its newsletter and in its report on the review of research in the social sciences for the ARC (Challenges for the Social Sciences and Australia, 1998). All of these efforts have been unsuccessful.
The social sciences suffered a further reverse with the creation in December 1997 of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC), with a larger membership than the Prime Minister's Science and Engineering Council which it replaced but still without ex officio representation of the social sciences. Worse, the scientists' lobby group - the Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) - won representation by the appointment of its President as an ex officio member. In the discussion paper New Knowledge, New Opportunities, released by the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs in June 1999, it was stated that 'the Government, through such bodies as PMSEIC, has a broad role in identifying and advising on research priorities'. In its comments on the discussion paper, the Academy rejected this view of the Council's role, noting that the Council as presently constituted is not equipped to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of researchers in the social sciences.
At present, there is no Commonwealth Minister to whom ASSA is able to make representations on behalf of the social sciences. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources has specific responsibilities for the spheres of interest of AAS and AATSE, and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has specific responsibilities in relation to the fields of scholarship represented in the AAH. In discussion with some Fellows it was thought that, since the social sciences impinge on all areas of Government, it would make sense if we had more direct relations with Treasury given the strength of our economics Fellows and the fiscal implications for Australian society of our work.
The Secretariat
Our Executive Director has given notice that he wishes to retire at the end of the year. A small appointments committee was determined at the last meeting of the Executive Committee to examine the current staffing arrangements with a view to appointing a new Director. That committee consists of myself as Chair and the Chair of the Finance Committee (Professor Gavin Jones), the Chair of the Research Projects Committee (Professor Sue Richardson) and the Chair of the Workshop Committee (Professor Peter Saunders). We plan to meet on 25 July in time to report progress to the July meeting of the Executive Committee
.
Fay Gale
2000
Last modified: 2 November 2009.