Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra examines the effects of quantitative research evaluations on British social scientists, arguing that the mission to measure academic excellence resulted in less diversity and more disciplinary conformity. He provides a compelling account of how quantification altered the incentives of scholars and administrators.
With brevity, wit, and humanity, The Quantified Scholar shows how the formal, national research assessment process has changed the social sciences in the UK. Combining historical and quantitative data with qualitative interviews, Pardo-Guerra offers a very compelling portrayal of the whole assessment process and its consequences, as well as concrete suggestions for what academics could do differently without overpromising about our collective ability to roll back decades of austerity and audit culture.
