From Engagement to Impact: How Community‑Engaged Research Shapes Social Science Research Outcomes in Indian Universities (Public Vs Private)

Abstract

Universities are increasingly being challenged to illustrate societal relevance and the societal impact of their research beyond conventional academic output. Community-engaged research, thus, has become a vital mechanism to enhance the social, policy and practical impact of scholarly work and in particular for research in the social sciences. This study explores the effects of community engagement on research impact in social science departments of Indian universities, with a focus on public versus private universities. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 312 respondents at public and private universities across India. Descriptive, factor and reliability analyses, regression and moderation models were used to investigate the impact of community engagement on different forms of research impact such as interdisciplinary research collaborations, applied nature of research work and use in practice, policy influence and social impacts of research. Results indicated that community engagement has a significant positive impact on all forms of research impact and public universities have higher impact resulting from engagement than private institutions especially regarding policy impacts and social development impacts of research work. It was also found that incentives for engaged research and use of generative artificial intelligence tools positively moderate the impact of engaged scholarship. This study adds empirical evidence to the discussions about engaged scholarship and the significance of support systems and mechanisms within higher education institutions.