How Academic Researchers Align Values and Methodology: A Qualitative Inquiry of Equity-Informed Micro-Practices

Background Academic researchers conducting participatory research often navigate complex institutional, administrative, and funding constraints that limit their ability to actualize commitments to equitable practice. In response, many researchers adopt informal ad hoc strategies to subvert these constraints. We refer to these strategies as equity-informed micro-practices. Objectives This study aims to 1) examine the institutional and structural challenges that limit participatory research, 2) identify examples of equity-informed micro-practices, and 3) discuss limitations of equity-informed micro-practices. Methods A total of 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with federally funded academic researchers who conducted participatory research between 2013 and 2018. Interviews were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Results were synthesized by a team of students, community researchers, and academic faculty. Findings Participants described several challenges related to competing demands between universities, funding bodies, and communities. These included rigid hiring systems, administrative bureaucracy, and restrictive funding guidelines. Participants responded to these challenges through a range of equity-informed micro-practices, including: 1) engaging in community-centric research design, 2) dialogical approaches that emphasized transparency and shared decision making, and 3) workarounds to institutional policies to better support communities. Despite these efforts, challenges persisted, including those related to administrative barriers, resource constraints, and communication difficulties. Conclusions Discrepancies in structural level support result in the absorption of administrative, financial, and emotional risks directly onto academic researchers who seek to enact equity in their work. Equity-informed micro-practices represent important forms of everyday resistance; however, their unsustainability underscores the need for reforms that ensure that equitable practice is supported by design.