A manifesto for failure: Depersonalising, collectivising and embracing failure in research funding. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Holdsworth, Clare
• Is Part Of: Emotion, space and society. Volume 37(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: Failure -- Research grants -- Shame; Emotions -- Periodicals; Spatial behavior -- Periodicals; Space perception -- Periodicals; 152.4
• DOI: 10.1016/j.emospa.2020.100744
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1755-4586

Abstract

Abstract: The odds of failure are greater than those for success when applying for research funding. Yet academics are expected to be successful and win research funding to advance their own careers and the esteem of their institutions. This intensification of applications for research funding means that failure is a fact of life for researchers. In this intervention piece I examine how failure to secure research funding is entrenched in universities and suggest proposals to address this. The manifesto, which are my own views, argues that we need to depersonalise, collectivise and embrace failure. Highlights: Why failure is integral to the process of applying for grant applications. How and why responsibility for failure should be shared by institutions, funding councils and researchers. A manifesto for supporting researchers experiencing the complex emotions of grant rejection.