PUBLISH OR PERISH: DECONSTRUCTING RESEARCH CULTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Pakistan has witnessed a conspicuous reformation in the higher education landscape since the establishment of Higher Education Commission (HEC) in 2002. One of the most vibrant indicators of this transformation has been the HEC’s unswerving tenacity to develop a research culture at Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). Consequently, the obsession of research in Pakistani universities is now in its full swing and research productivity has become a matter of survival both for the faculty and students with a neologism, publish or Perish. However, the quality, originality, philosophical and applied contributions of the research outputs have remained under serious criticism engendering severe apprehensions over the ontological configuration and philosophy of contemporary research enterprise. This ethnographic exploration is based upon the participant observation (PO) in 4 public and private universities in Islamabad explores whether mere pressure to publish for survival is enough to produce a genuine research culture? The narratives of researchers were explored to comprehend those issues which impede the development of conducive research culture. Methodological triangulation was applied using In-depth-interview and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with faculty members and research students of M.Phil and PhD degrees. The findings suggest that although the pressure to publish has ominously increased the research output, departmental politics, lack of research and writing competency, and philosophical estrangement from research credo deterring the establishing of an ingenious, creative and vivacious research culture at Pakistani Universities.