Making the case for RCM roles#
Paper sections 4.1 to 7.
Section 4.1: The need for professionalisation#
Explains why community management has remained informal and “hidden”, and what professionalisation involves: recognition, training, qualifications, autonomy, and fair compensation.
Section 5: Recommended steps towards professionalisation#
Section |
Step |
Practical use |
|---|---|---|
5.1 |
Articulate skills and competencies |
Adopt a shared framework for role design |
5.2 |
Align recognition and reward systems |
Include community work in assessment, promotion, and authorship (see also CRediT and DORA) |
5.3 |
Build long-term career pathways |
Show how RCMs can progress to senior and leadership roles |
5.4 |
Offer prolonged mentorship and support |
Plan mentoring and an institutional support network |
Section 6: Responding to institutional barriers#
Lists systemic barriers to community building, and describes:
6.1: The advantages of RCM teams over isolated roles.
6.2: Routes to formalise RCM skills in organisations that cannot yet hire dedicated roles, for example by using the framework in existing job descriptions.
6.3: Approaches to adopt from the research software engineering (RSE) movement.
Section 7: Conclusion#
Summarises the recommendation that institutions invest in RCM teams that are empowered to prioritise collaboration, transparency, and community-based approaches.