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To cite this work: Enion, B. (2025). How do we share and collaborate in our findings with audiences beyond the university?  Disability Dialogues. ºù«Ӱҵ: iHuman, University of ºù«Ӱҵ. 

Bev is a second-year, 1+3 ESRC-funded doctoral researcher within the School of Education. Her arts-based research takes an interdisciplinary approach to consider how disabled women's sexuality is represented within on social media. She is on the organisational committee for the Emotionally Demanding Research Network and the White Rose Disability Network, as well as  journal administrator for Reading Research Quarterly.

More and more attention is being turned to how, as academics, we can make our research more meaningful and impactful. As researchers, we are urged to think carefully about how we design research projects to ensure we share our findings with audiences beyond the university. This is essential if we want to contribute toward social and political change – the reason many of us become researchers. To do this, we must move away from routinely inaccessible and jargon-laden research findings that have no tangible meaning for or impact on disabled people. This is vital when we consider historical allegations that disability-related researchers are only motivated by career advancement. Instead, we need to attend to the rallying call that we collaborate with disabled people to not only conduct our inquiries but to share findings too. 

We need to think carefully about who and where we intend to share our findings. We quite often find ourselves working alongside disabled people’s organisations, policymakers, non-governmental organisations, and industry professionals. The dissemination of findings needs to be tailored to each one accordingly, otherwise, there will be no meaningful impact – the main thing we strive for as disability researchers. This involves recognising that each will require their information in a different format, some will have greater accessibility needs than others, and some will want to know more or less than the next  - we must listen to their needs and how they want to understand the findings to adapt the sharing of them. Failure to do so will inevitably reduce the impact of our research findings as they become meaningless for that particular audience. 

Moving beyond traditional formats such as academic conferences, there are various ways to share our research findings beyond the university: 

• Publishing in open-access journals – This allows wider circulation by making articles freely available, increasing reach beyond the university. However, the impact depends on how we promote the publication, so we must consider where and how to announce its availability to ensure people see it.
• Social media platforms – We can use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube to promote open-access journals. We can also get creative when sharing research summaries through visuals, short clips, or reels which means we can reach broader audiences, including disabled people who are routinely inaccessible through traditional university channels.
• Podcasts –  We can also use social media to share our findings in an audible format, using clear, jargon-free language. This makes complex topics more accessible and easier to understand, broadening the reach and impact of our research.
• Collaborating with non-academic stakeholders – This approach gives our findings real-world relevance, increasing the likelihood of their integration into policy and fostering meaningful change for disabled people.
• Accessible, user-friendly versions of research – This is essential for engaging wider audiences and meeting the accessibility needs of disabled participants. After all, without their involvement, the research wouldn't exist, so it's crucial they can access the findings.