Communication of Science and Academic Accreditation of University Professors

Abstract

In the Spanish context, ANECA manages the accreditation of higher-education professors; in other latitudes similar situations are experienced. This research article is a contribution to the reflection on the accreditation of professors regarding the communication of science, a study that shows Colombian university teacher-researchers’ perceptions on the issue. This is a qualitative study that addresses, on the one hand, the analysis of the production of the research groups of the participating population and, on the other, the experience of the professors based on testimonial accounts, which were analyzed through content analysis using Atlas-TI software. The particularity of science communication is highlighted as a necessary mechanism to make scientific knowledge visible as well as some relevant tensions. Similarly, a balance on the development of academic accreditation of Colombian teachers is made, a categorization that was initially regulated by the former Colciencias, which nowadays is the National Ministry of Science and Technology. It is evident in the study, on the one hand, the contribution of the demands in the increase of accreditation and the development of professorial research and, on the other, the need to generate other academic accreditation pathways for professors that are beyond the publication of articles in top magazines. Finally, it is relevant to highlight the disagreement with the current policies that measure scientific productivity, which is shown in the criticism of the faculty to the growing alignment of the University to neoliberal policies that configure the managerial university.