Supporting data for "University governance and academic work in a neoliberal landscape of higher education: Preparation for Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020 in Hong Kong"

Interview data with 16 RAE-eligible academics in Social Sciences and Education from two UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong <br><b>Participants:</b> A purposive snowballing sampling approach was adopted to invite sixteen RAE-eligible academic staff at Institutions A and B. These participants were at different academic stages (seven professors, three associate professors and six assistant professors). Seven had experiences in managing the RAE exercises and performed different administrative duties, e.g., research governance, knowledge transfer activities, faculty/department management. <br><b>Data collection procedure: </b>After receiving ethical approval from the university, I conducted semi-structured and text-based interviews with the 16 participants individually from October 2019 to October 2020, immediately after the census date for RAE 2020 in Hong Kong (30 September 2019). The participants’ academic profile and research publications, retrieved from their official websites, were studied in advance before the interview. During each individual interview, I would first briefly illustrate the focus of my Ph.D. project and the topic areas that would be covered in the interview questions. The participants were also encouraged to elaborate on any information they feel appropriate. English or Mandarin Chinese was used during the face-to-face interviews. For the interviews conducted in Chinese, English words and phrases (e.g., “3*/4*”, “SSCI”) were frequently used. The length of each individual interview ranged from 40 minutes to 70 minutes, with the average length being around 60 minutes. Interviews were conducted and audio-recorded with informed consent. Compensation was provided to appreciate their collaboration and support, upon their completion of the interviews.<br>

本数据集包含来自香港两所受大学教育资助委员会（University Grants Committee，UGC）资助的社会科学与教育学领域、符合研究评估活动（Research Assessment Exercise，RAE）参评资格的16名学者的访谈数据。<br><b>参与者：</b>本研究采用目的性滚雪球抽样法，邀请了机构A与机构B中符合RAE参评资格的16名学术人员作为受访者。受访者涵盖不同学术职级，其中包括7名教授、3名副教授及6名助理教授。其中7人曾参与RAE参评筹备工作，并承担过研究治理、知识转移事务、院系管理等不同行政职责。<br><b>数据采集流程：</b>本研究已获得所属大学的伦理审查批准。2019年10月至2020年10月，即香港2020年RAE参评申报截止日期（2019年9月30日）之后，笔者对16名受访者逐一开展了半结构化文本访谈。访谈前，笔者已提前从受访者的官方学术网站获取其学术履历与研究成果信息并完成研读。每次一对一访谈开始时，笔者会先简要介绍本人的博士（Doctor of Philosophy，Ph.D.）研究项目核心方向与访谈问题覆盖的主题范围，同时鼓励受访者就相关信息进行充分阐述。面对面访谈可使用英语或普通话进行；对于以中文开展的访谈，会穿插使用部分英文术语与短语，例如"3*/4*"、"社会科学引文索引（Social Sciences Citation Index，SSCI）"。每轮访谈时长介于40分钟至70分钟之间，平均时长约为60分钟。所有访谈均在获得知情同意后进行，并同步进行录音。访谈结束后，笔者向每位受访者提供答谢报酬以感谢其协作与支持。