Tracing Excellence and Equity in Research Funding: Policy Change in the Canada Research Chair Program

• In Event: The Influence of Policy on Institutional Research, Funding, and Access

Abstract

Achieving equity in research funding has become a major policy puzzle in higher education. At the center of this discussion are the processes and policies adopted by national research funding agencies. This paper examines policy change in the Canada Research Chair (CRC) program. The analysis uses critical policy analysis to examine the influence, text, and practices of CRC policy cycles. Four cycles were identified: The Early Years; Moving the Equity Process Beyond Monitoring; Establishing Targets and Time to get Tough. The analysis highlights the existing tensions on defining excellence, autonomy in the nomination of researchers and different understandings of equity. The paper makes an important contribution by examining how attempts to address equity in policy get taken up and constituted.

Authors

• Merli Tamtik, University of Manitoba
  Presenting Author

• Dawn L. Sutherland, University of Manitoba
  Presenting Author