Research for Whom? Rethinking the Purpose of Academic Inquiry

Written by Dr. Fariha Gul

Researcher, academician

In universities and research institutes across the globe, academic research has become a race: a race for publishing in high-impact journals, securing grants, climbing the ranks of citation indexes, and gaining recognition in academic circles. But amid this academic sprint, an essential question often goes unasked:

Research for whom?

The Rise of Academic Capitalism

Modern academia, especially in neoliberal settings, is increasingly governed by "academic capitalism"—a term coined by Sheila Slaughter and Larry Leslie (1997) to describe the commercialization and market-driven transformation of higher education. In such an environment, research becomes a commodity, measured by the number of publications, impact factor, h-index, or the size of grants attracted.

This commodification pushes scholars to focus on "publishable topics"—those that fit Western epistemic frameworks, appeal to journal reviewers, or align with donor priorities. Often, these topics bear little relevance to local communities or societal needs.

“Much academic research is done about people, not with them. It is often extracted from the margins and consumed at the center.”

— Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies (1999)

Metrics Without Meaning?

When research output is gauged by metrics alone, it risks becoming detached from its ethical and social responsibilities. For instance, a study on rural education challenges might win international acclaim—but if it doesn’t reach the community or policymakers who can act on it, what purpose has it served?

This is especially concerning in contexts like Pakistan or the broader Global South, where research is often done on marginalized communities without their active involvement, and findings rarely return to inform the very systems they examine.

From Extractive to Engaged Research

The need today is not just for rigorous research but also for relevant and reciprocal research. This calls for a shift from:

• Research on people → to research with people

• Knowledge for publication → to knowledge for transformation

Models such as Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) offer alternatives. These approaches value lived experiences, democratize knowledge production, and aim to co-create solutions with communities, not just about them.

Rethinking Research Policies

Institutions must recalibrate research policies to reward not just quantity or prestige, but impact, inclusivity, and accessibility. Key recommendations include:

• Recognizing community engagement in tenure and promotion criteria

• Encouraging multilingual research dissemination

• Supporting open access publishing

• Funding locally-driven agendas, not just donor-driven ones

A Moral Responsibility

In a world facing multiple crises—climate change, inequality, political polarization—the university’s role cannot be confined to producing peer-reviewed papers. It must also serve as a moral and civic institution, responsible to the communities it inhabits.

“If knowledge is power, then academic research must empower—not exploit—the people it studies.”

It’s time to ask not just what we are researching, but who we are researching for—and whether they even know, care, or benefit from it.

References

Slaughter, S., & Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies, and the Entrepreneurial University. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books.

Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton University Press.

Chilisa, B. (2012). Indigenous Research Methodologies. SAGE Publications.

Hall, B. L., & Tandon, R. (2017). Participatory Research: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Going? In Research for All, 1(2), 365–373.