Anger as social sciences lose cash to STEM under REF rule change

Economists are their own worst enemies. They diss each others research and then get a big cut while rubbish subjects like management get more money ! I know of economics department that made excellent REF submissions only to get far lower grades than they deserved from the Economics REF panel. The big six economic department diss everyone else's work and protect their own backsides. Other subject areas like Sociology give away 4 ratings on third class submission like no tomorrow. Same with management they end up with more money and the economics less money - the economists are ultimately getting their comeuppance.

What this article fails to mention, even though it is well-known and easily evidenced, is that many economists are now in business schools. The overall number of institutions that submit to the economics panel (rather than cross-referring outputs from business & management to economics) has become lower with each REF (RAE). So really, for a substantial number of economists, this is not really an issue, because they will benefit from the increase in business & management funding together with their business school colleagues.

"rule change had redirected £145 million that would have gone to the humanities and social sciences to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects instead." This seems to be an excellent way of ensuring value-for-money when there is only so much to go around. Great decision.

@ #3 Quite! And within business and management and the ESRC, economists hoover up a lions share of business and management research funding for their religion dressed as science that is neoclassical economics. I am still drying my crocodile tears, so sad. ;)