Research Administration around the World

The purpose of the Research Administration as a Profession (RAAAP) project was to obtain a snapshot of the research management and administration (RMA) profession around the world. This included collecting basic demographics, which is the focus of this paper. Here, we present the results of a worldwide survey of RMAs conducted in 2016. We compare and contrast the demographics of RMAs across different regions of the world. Findings from previous national surveys, such as those by Roberts & House (2005), and Shambrook et al (2015), are upheld and expanded in an international context—for example, that the profession is predominantly female. In addition, a high level of academic attainment is also reported, in line with findings from D’Agostino et al. (1991). There are some significant differences in responses between regions of the world which reflect the differential maturity of the profession. For example, the U.S. has by far the highest number of respondents with over 20 years’ experience in research administration as compared to the other regions. The reasons for joining and staying in the profession are also explored, with positives including working with faculty, the challenging work, and the fun. The extensive datasets are not fully explored in this paper and others are invited to use them for their own research and analyses. Overall, we conclude that research administration is becoming a global profession and argue that in some regions it is more advanced than in others, as reflected in the composition of the workforce and the availability and uptake of certification.