Catalysts for change
Pracademic Roles and Added Value to Social Impact
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3886476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Willem Elbers (0000-0002-0485-368X, Radboud University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 187-198 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-17 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Development in Practice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0961-4524 • E-ISSN: 1364-9213 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09614524.2024.2436497 |
| OpenAlex | W4405448182 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 12 |
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the debate on pracademic roles and added values in driving social impact within the field of development studies. I draw on a case study of myself, self-identifying as a pracademic, and my extensive involvement with the Liliane Foundation, a Dutch NGO. In my study, I identify five primary pracademic roles: theory-to-practice mediator, diplomat, empathetic listener, communicator, and critical friend. These roles aim to make academic content (knowledge, research, theories) available, accessible, findable, and acceptable to practitioners. My findings illustrate that the capacity to perform academic roles to a large extent underlies the ability to perform pracademic roles, providing insights into the necessary competences required for the latter. I find that by fulfilling a combination of academic and pracademic roles, impact is created in four areas: capacity building, practice and decision-making, organisational credibility and reputation, and organisational learning
Business · Development economics · Economics · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |