Pragmatic evaluation of transdisciplinary research on gender equity in the New Zealand public service
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 1 September 2021
Issue publication date: 3 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the need for such, little scholarly attention has been paid to transdisciplinary enquiry into gender inequities in workplaces. The authors provide a pragmatic evaluation of the transdisciplinary research (TDR) model by Hall et al. (2012) for framing the study of this societal issue, shedding light on the challenges, principles and values that could usefully inform subsequent TDR in organisational settings.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper evaluates the model in relation to TDR on gender inequities in New Zealand's public service by Hall et al. (2012) Content analysis on our reflective narratives from research team meetings, email exchanges, informal discussions and a workshop reveals TDR study insights. Findings show support for the model and its four broad phases and surface principles and values for applied TDR enquiry that addresses societal challenges in the organisational context.
Findings
The adoption of a TDR model to examine a study of equity in the public service revealed practical and conceptual challenges, encouraging ongoing reflection and adaptive behaviour on the researchers' part. The pragmatic evaluation also highlighted environmental constraints on undertaking TDR, with implications for the ambition of future studies.
Research limitations/implications
This evaluative enquiry encourages similar research in other organisational and national settings to validate the use of TDR to gain insightful, contextualised understandings of social challenges centred in the organisational setting.
Practical implications
This pragmatic evaluation of a TDR model's capacity to approximate the approach and phases of our applied enquiry lays the groundwork to refining TDR approaches used in subsequent studies aimed at addressing societal issues in the organisational setting.
Social implications
This paper can potentially promote greater collaboration between research scholars and other stakeholders wanting to develop TDR paradigms and applied enquiry that can meaningfully inform workplace and societal impacts.
Originality/value
This pragmatic evaluation of a TDR approach involves its initial application to the study of equity at work and develops principles and values that could inform TDR paradigms and methodologies of subsequent enquiries in the field.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff and managers of several public service agencies in New Zealand and experts from various ministries and other national bodies, for taking part in this study. Without their insights, this manuscript about transdisciplinary research could not have been written. The authors would also like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. The authors are also indebted to Massey University for supporting this study with Strategic Innovation Funding (Research) (no. RM22440).
Citation
Parker, J., Young-Hauser, A., Sayers, J., Loga, P., Paea, S. and Barnett, S. (2022), "Pragmatic evaluation of transdisciplinary research on gender equity in the New Zealand public service", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 41-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-01-2021-2097
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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