2024 marks the Academy of Social Sciences’ 25th anniversary year – and what a year it has been. Our foundations as an Academy exist in our Fellowship, our member learned societies and our ethos – to champion the social sciences for public benefit – and throughout 2024 we have worked to build on those foundations more strongly than ever.
The year got off to a flying start with the publication of our Sage Policy Report which focuses on the essential role the social sciences play within the UK’s research, development and innovation system. Also in January, in our first partnership with the British Academy, we jointly published a major report on the SHAPE of Research Impact based on the REF 2021 Impact Case Studies in arts, humanities and social sciences. Both reports received widespread media attention, being featured in Wonkhe, Research Professional, Times Higher Education, the Financial Times, the LSE Impact blog and Nature.
In the first quarter of 2024, following consultations with Academy Fellows, Council members, Executive Committee, our member learned societies, Academy staff and other stakeholders, we also launched our new five-year strategy for 2024-2029. This has six objectives and builds on work in recent years to enhance the Academy’s profile, to expand our activities to promote and safeguard the social sciences, to work more closely with Fellows and enhance our partnerships with learned society members, and to modernise our operations. Above all, we are committed to doing as much as we can to be a voice for the social sciences and to help them to: flourish in the UK; sustain their world leading stature; and make the world a better place in doing so.
One of our new strategy objectives is to foster strong, skilled and diverse pipelines of social scientists. As part of our work towards this throughout 2024, much progress has been made in the powerful collaboration between the Academy, our member social science societies and the Economic and Social Research Council (UKRI), in furthering EDI through a disciplinary and sectoral lens. As part of this work, we published a report on EDI data for the social sciences in higher education. This paves the way for the Academy’s member social science societies to conduct further discipline-level analyses to inform their EDI activities. In addition, we awarded competitively a second round of grant funding, supported by ESRC, for seven EDI initiatives and interventions by the Academy’s member social science societies. We look forward to sharing the outcomes of their projects in due course.
Another focus of the Academy’s strategic work over the past year has been in seeking to embed social science evidence and mindsets more fully across governments and decision-makers. In the summer, we commenced a new research and advocacy-led project to explore if and how the UK Government’s evidence infrastructure, including social science evidence, could be developed to deliver better outcomes for people. Recommendations, drawing on two internal reports completed in September, will be shared and discussed with stakeholders over the coming months.
The summer also saw us monitoring the health of the social sciences through the publication of a new report summarising the scale and trends in research funding for the sector across UK higher education. Drawing largely on published annual Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) data for 2013/14 to 2021/22, the report provides insight into the quantity, distribution and change over time. It also acts as a reference study for the documentation of change in the future; and raises questions about what the UK wants from its social science sector research and the appetite for its funding. We aim to continue to monitor, analyse and report social science research funding and other data at regular intervals in the future as part of our work under the ‘health of social science’ objective.
It’s been a super busy year for the Campaign for Social Science. The Election 24: ideas for change based on social science evidence project continued until the 2024 UK General Election. This project aimed to foreground social science perspectives, research and evidence relevant to public policy in the run up to the election. The project showcased the expertise of the UK’s social science community, including many Academy Fellows.
The Election 24 programme ran for nine months, featured 13 online and in-person events held across the UK, nine of which were run in partnership with other organisations, and over 50 evidence-led comment pieces by social scientists from 40 universities, research organisations, charities, foundations and other organisations. We extend our thanks to all those who have supported the project, including our Campaign sponsor, Sage, and our university supporters, especially those with whom we co-hosted events, our event speakers and chairs, and to our Election 24 blog contributors. The Campaign also ran a number of other online and in-person events throughout the year, showcasing social science perspectives on topical issues including transport policy, (re)building trust in the police and mental health and wellbeing in rural communities.
In addition, as part of the Academy’s work to grow the public image of social science, 2024 saw us launch two new seasons of our chart topping We Society podcast. Hosted by renowned author, journalist and Academy President, Will Hutton, this year has seen the podcast delve into a range of topics including health and wellbeing, the social model of disability, the UK’s housing crisis, addressing hate crime and how to support the growing number of the UK’s child carers and much more.
We were also delighted to welcome Will to share his personal views in delivering the Academy’s 2024 Annual Lecture, marking both our 25th anniversary and the mid-point of his presidency. In an inspiring talk, attended by Academy Fellows, decision-makers, leaders of sister bodies and members of the public, Will drew on over 40 years of political commentary and insights from his recently published book, This Time No Mistakes, to share his vision for a new way forwards and how the social sciences can and must contribute to building a better future through the concept of a ‘We Society’. The recording is available to view on our website.
2024 will be noted as the year in which the Academy’s communications activities took a major step forwards. Better and more systematic use of social media, a growing presence on LinkedIn, more press coverage, and increasing use of our website has resulted in a higher profile for the Academy. During the year we also developed some new messaging that will be rolled out in 2025.
Elsewhere, we have continued our work from last year through further developing the Academy’s Forum for Leaders of Social Science in Higher Education Institutions; publishing and commissioning high-profile issues for our journal, Contemporary Social Science, under the editorship of Professor David Bailey, and have produced regular policy updates, policy briefings, and responded to selected policy consultations.
Throughout the year, we have also welcomed 86 leading social scientists to our Fellowship, as well as five new Trustees to our Council and five new members to our Campaign for Social Science Board. We look forward to working with them all in promoting social science for public benefit. Internally, we have changed and upgraded our CRM database to enhance efficiency and improved the transparency of our statutory financial reporting.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the autumn there’s still plenty to come, with a new season of the We Society podcast in the works; the publication of our forthcoming report, Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges, which draws together the work of the Campaign’s Election 24 project; and there’s still time to book for this year’s Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture which is being delivered by Dr Hannah White OBE, who will discuss what the future might hold for the UK following a year of elections around the globe.
As I reflect on all that we have achieved so far this year, I’m incredibly proud of the hard work, innovation and dedication shown by our small, committed staff team and appreciative of the huge support, collaboration and contributions from our Fellows, member social science societies, Campaign supporters, other donors, trustees and other committee members. The past 25 years has been a period of sustained development for the Academy that places us now in a strong position to champion the social sciences, demonstrating and advocating to governments, business, potential students, and the public how they make a difference in understanding our changing world.
Dr Rita Gardner
Chief Executive