Bridging the research-policy divide: Pathways to engagement and skill development

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Policy Studies
• Science Communication

Background:

• Limited researcher-policymaker interaction hinders evidence-based public policy.
• Researchers desire social impact but face barriers to policy engagement.
• Lack of policy competencies and institutional support impede researcher involvement in policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the connection between policy training approaches and the use of research evidence by policymakers.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of different policy training strategies for researchers.
• To identify factors supporting researchers' policy engagement and competency development.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on researcher policy engagement and training.
• Description of various policy training pathways.
• Evaluation of a specific policy training strategy combining direct instruction and experiential learning.

Main Results:

• Policy training combining direct instruction and experiential learning shows promise.
• Researchers with greater policy competencies are more likely to engage in policy.
• Evaluation data indicates benefits from both direct instruction and experiential learning.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced policy training is crucial for strengthening researchers' engagement with policymakers.
• Recommendations include increasing training access and adjusting institutional incentives.
• Effective training can improve the use of empirical evidence in public policy for societal benefit.