Abstract
Researchers in universities are encouraged to produce innovative scientific research
and participate in the international scientific community. In Mexico, public policies
have intended to promote competitiveness in such social space. However, the lack
of funding, researchers, and the polysemic conception of innovation in scientific
production, amongst other factors, has scarcely promoted the economic, scientific
and social progress in the region. This study (1) analyzes the concept of innovation
among researchers in the field of Social Sciences to identify if they share a stand-
ard definition of such and if (2) the scholars have the impression that they perform
innovations in their scientific production. The study compares researchers’ concep-
tions from three higher education institutions of the State of Sonora, Mexico. The
Northwestern region of Mexico is significant due to its research production in Phys-
ics and Social Sciences, which is mainly generated in Higher Education institutions.
We conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed their views about their sci-
entific production over the last five years. We reflect on the different types of rela-
tions scholars tie the concept of innovation. The main results show the different con-
ceptions of innovation, especially its fragmentary character among social science
researchers and how this inhibits the development of innovation and competitive-
ness. This result is a virtual space for policymakers to open a formative space for
innovation and is an invitation to investigate the innovative or non-innovative char-
acter of scientific production in northwestern Mexico
and participate in the international scientific community. In Mexico, public policies
have intended to promote competitiveness in such social space. However, the lack
of funding, researchers, and the polysemic conception of innovation in scientific
production, amongst other factors, has scarcely promoted the economic, scientific
and social progress in the region. This study (1) analyzes the concept of innovation
among researchers in the field of Social Sciences to identify if they share a stand-
ard definition of such and if (2) the scholars have the impression that they perform
innovations in their scientific production. The study compares researchers’ concep-
tions from three higher education institutions of the State of Sonora, Mexico. The
Northwestern region of Mexico is significant due to its research production in Phys-
ics and Social Sciences, which is mainly generated in Higher Education institutions.
We conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed their views about their sci-
entific production over the last five years. We reflect on the different types of rela-
tions scholars tie the concept of innovation. The main results show the different con-
ceptions of innovation, especially its fragmentary character among social science
researchers and how this inhibits the development of innovation and competitive-
ness. This result is a virtual space for policymakers to open a formative space for
innovation and is an invitation to investigate the innovative or non-innovative char-
acter of scientific production in northwestern Mexico
| Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
|---|---|
| Journal | Innovative Higher Education |
| Volume | 47 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2022 |