A micro-level study of research impact and motivational diversity

Abstract What motivates academics to pursue technology and knowledge transfer has been a growing area of research with recent calls for a deeper understanding of this issue. Technology and knowledge transfer are being positioned by policymakers and universities as part of the wider research impact agenda. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to explore at a micro level the motivational diversity among academics in pursuing research impact. Set in a business school context, our study uses self-determination theory and an interpretive approach. We focus on the main motivations to be an academic in terms of the core psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, the consequent intrinsic or extrinsic motivations for research impact, and the attitudes towards institutional measures for this practice. We identified six research impact groups, practice-oriented researchers, business seekers, instrumentalists, compliers, theoreticians, and relationship facilitators . We also found some friction between the motivations to be an academic and for research impact.