Bridging the Gap Between Academics and Policy Making in Indonesia

Description

I n 2015, Asit Biwas, then a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and Julian Kirchherr, a researcher at the Oxford University, wrote a very thought-provoking and important opinion piece in The Straits Times titled “Prof, no one is reading you”. The article gave a new perspective of how academics should think about themselves and their role in the changing society.

In the article, they argued that many brilliant ideas academics have do not significantly impact public debates and policymaking. That is because academics only share their thoughts in academic journals that are only read by their academic peers.

The two even pointed out that the average scholarly journal article is only read by about 10 people, which hardly changes society. Therefore, to have more of an impact, academics should write more op-eds that policymakers and public audiences will read so they can influence public discourse or even policymakers.

It raised a broader issue on to what extent academics’ works, particularly in social sciences in Indonesia, are relevant for today's real-world problem. Is the long criticism of “ivory-tower” academics who are not well connected to real-world problems in Indonesia still relevant?

There are at least three methods for making the academic world and scholars, especially in social sciences, more relevant in tackling Indonesia’s challenges.

First, as Professor Harold Koh, a Yale Law School professor and former legal advisor for the United States State Department, argued, it is important for an academic to also have a stint of real practical experience as a high-level decision-making official in the government. So, they have some ideas on what topics may be important and relevant to students who later will go into practice. He even gave an example of how many academics in the United States have gone on to become high-ranking government officials. It shapes not only policymaking that is justified academically but also shapes the theory in the academic world.

Indeed, many ministers and high-ranking officials in the US government have a background as academics. Joseph Nye, Ann Marie Slaughter, Janet Yellen and Henry Kissinger are just a few. They served as top government officials with strong academic credentials. After assuming positions in the government, they came back to teach and develop their scholarly works based on their experience as government officials. Those experiences then shaped their academic work, which was relevant for real-world problems and not only based on theory that is difficult to implement.

Since the New Order under Soeharto (1967-1998), Indonesia has had a strong tradition of academics and professors serving as ministers and high-ranking officials. With less democracy and practically no party coalitions, Soeharto had the liberty to handpick ministers. Therefore, technocrats and academics with credentials in the fields were given the positions as key decision-makers.

Today, thanks to democratization, more political parties and coalitions have forced the president to accommodate politicians as ministers and high-ranking officials, sometimes even with minimal professional records and expertise. Therefore, fewer professionals in specialized areas, including academics, sit as ministers in the government.

Secondly, as Biwas and Kirchherr stated in their op-ed, more Indonesian social scientists should share their ideas beyond their academic peers in academic journals. They should also seek broader audiences and publish their research in more popular media, which the wider public and policymakers will read. Today, there are more online outlets to share their knowledge with broader public audiences. By sharing their ideas with the wider public, they will fulfill their obligations to educate the nation.

Thirdly, the Indonesian academic community should value more interdisciplinary studies, which are important to tackle current world problems. In this dynamic world, most problems cannot be solved with only a single academic discipline.

Many issues and challenges are better solved through collaboration and interdisciplinary perspectives. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic is an issue that involves health experts, public policy, economic, social, legal and many other disciplines. Other issues such as cybersecurity, technology, global health and gender, are some issues that require more than just a single discipline to tackle them. Therefore, it requires someone who knows this interdisciplinary approach or school which accommodates these multidisciplinary studies.

In many developed states such as the US, scholars with a different discipline education tend to be more appreciated because it will give them a better understanding of a particular problem. For example, someone who has a law degree and PhD in global health will better understand regulating public health issues. Or someone who has a law degree and computer sciences might better understand cybersecurity and personal data protection.

Suppose Indonesia maintains its traditional views of this linear academic discipline. Indonesian scholars would be less competitive internationally and it would be more difficult for the academic community to tackle future challenges the country will face.

Moreover, Indonesia also lags behind in terms of multidisciplinary postgraduate schools with more policy-oriented research. Again, many developed countries such as the US, the United Kingdom and even Singapore have graduate schools that have an interdisciplinary nature in abundance.

Most universities in Indonesia still have a traditional faculty system. In the country, the School of Economics, School of Law, School of Medicine, School of Political and Social Sciences are still very much separated and rarely talk and collaborate with each other.

The current Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim’s policy of Kampus Merdeka (Free Campus), which allows students to take a class from different schools or departments, is a good start to bridge the gap between the interdisciplinary education systems. But of course, there is still a long way to go.

That being said, to tackle current and future world problems and make academics more relevant, it is important for the Indonesian academic community, particularly social science, to contribute to shaping public policy debates and policy making in Indonesia.

Subject

News, Indonesia