An (Research) Enabler? 'A Person who Encourages or Enables Negative or Self-Destructive Behaviour in Another'

A brief critical reflection on the term ‘Research Enabler’ within the context of the developing UK national agenda to broaden and deepen the collective understanding of research communities and cultures within higher education and whether that is a helpful term to support the development of healthy research cultures. The term ‘Research Enabler’ refers to a broader set of occupational groups beyond research administrators to include academic librarians, IT staff, knowledge exchange professionals, technicians, and estates staff. This paper will reflect on the term from the perspective of a research administrator.

An enabler is a person or thing that makes something possible. However, within taxonomies of addiction the term ‘Enabler’ has more negative connotations as someone who encourages or enables negative or self-destructive behaviour in another. This is not to characterise researchers as addicts and research administrators as negative enablers but to draw attention to the language being used having potential negative and dualistic interpretations for an occupational group who often self-report ambiguity and duality as inherent in their complex roles.