The FINANCIAL — Social science is now big business in the UK, according to new research which shows that the sector is worth approximately £24.3 billion a year to the national economy.
This figure is the collective economic value of social science teaching and research in UK universities (£4.8 billion a year) plus the costs that the financial sector, business corporations and public sector agencies spend on employing professional social scientists to mediate or translate academic research into their organisations (at least £19.4 billion a year).
LSE researchers argue that despite receiving just 8 per cent of Research and Development (R&D) funds nationally, and 12 per cent of the total research grants flowing to UK universities, the social science sector is punching well above its weight in economic terms, both locally and globally, according to LSE.
Across the world, rough estimates suggest that around 20 million people are either employed in university social science departments or are students in these disciplines. An additional 20 million professionals – working for governments, public agencies, major business corporations, consultants, civil society organisations and the media – make regular use of social science research in their work, the authors estimate.
Discussion about this post