Shaping of Music Research in Australian Universities 1990s–2020s: ERA, Quality, Value, Impact and Workplace Pressure

What do we mean by research quality? Is it contingent on the reputation of a platform through which the knowledge is shared—for example, a journal, a digital streaming service, or the venue of a performance—and how are the emergent technologies supporting dissemination to be used? Is it the relevance of that research to society’s immediate needs or its impact within its field that give it value? Is quality captured by citation numbers or grant support? In other words, how do we value our research? These questions and more have circulated academic discourse for the past 25 years. Since 2009, Australian academics have been engaged in the Australian Government’s assessment of research quality: Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA). Reviewing the period from the inception of ERA to now, this chapter uncovers how these types of assessments have influenced the sector. It explores shifts in the types of music studied and the research outputs that have been produced as the academy has classified, quantified, and qualified research activity. Embedded in the discussion is an acknowledgement that different forms of musical research activity are evaluated in different ways. In exploring the research evaluation systems, the chapter also questions: why have such checks and balances emerged? Are there other factors such as the culture and environment within an institution and industry that create spaces for research and critical learning that are being overlooked or undervalued? Indeed, does the way the research is being captured inhibit its scope? Are sufficiently diverse voices and being acknowledged? Do we recognise the different shapes and forms that that knowledge might take? If not, then we need better, more equitable ways of assessing and evaluating research and what might these be?