NWB2024_Researchers' views on diversity of career assessment criteria in Finland and the Finnish Career Assessment Matrix (FIN-CAM)

Researchers' views on diversity of career assessment criteria in Finland and the Finnish Career Assessment Matrix (FIN-CAM)

Many research performing and funding organisations are moving towards responsible assessment that respects the characteristics of different disciplines and the diversity of research work. In 2020, a national recommendation on Good Practice in Researcher Evaluation was published in Finland, which provides guidance on how to conduct researcher assessment responsibly from start to finish.

To support the implementation of the recommendation, the Steering Group for Responsible Researcher Assessment is currently preparing a Finnish Career Assessment Matrix (FIN-CAM), which is intended to support a comprehensive acknowledgement of different areas of academic activities and merits of researchers in various evaluation situations. Similar tools have been developed in Norway (NOR-CAM).

In support of FIN-CAM development, the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) conducted a survey in 2023 to researchers on the importance of diverse assessment criteria of researchers. The survey aimed to understand how persons who carry out research, support research and work in education would like to be evaluated and what types of skills and expertise should be taken into account in their assessment.

The presentation describes the main results of the survey. For example, the majority of respondents had encountered assessment situations during their career where their competence had been assessed using incorrect methods or indicators (55%), or where the goals, criteria or materials used in the assessment have not been openly known to all parties (52%). The presentation highlights aspects that researchers believe should be taken into account in researcher evaluations. The presentation also discusses the development of the FIN-CAM assessment tool.

References

Good Practice in Researcher Evaluation in Finland. Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland. https://edition.fi/tsv/catalog/view/170/128/567-1

NOR-CAM-A toolbox for recognition and rewards in academic careers. https://www.uhr.no/en/_f/p3/i86e9ec84-3b3d-48ce-8167-bbae0f507ce8/nor-cam-a-tool-box-for-assessment-and-rewards.pdf

Researchers' views on diversity of career assessment criteria in Finland: a survey report. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11612535