Tina Søreide takes social responsibility seriously
For the fifth year in a row, Professor Tina Søreide of the Department of Accounting, Auditing and Law is on the list of the most frequently quoted NHH researchers in the media. She is also highly active when it comes to popular dissemination to the general public. Why does she do it – what drives her?
"My work is in social studies. It is only natural then that the results of my research should benefit society," Tina Søreide says with a smile.
Over the last few months, Tina has given lectures to seniors under the auspices of Senioruniversitetet, to pupils during the National Science Week in Bergen, to upper secondary school counsellors at a breakfast seminar organised by the Study Bergen network (Utdanning i Bergen) and to upper secondary school students at the Open Day event. At least once a month, she gives talks to people of different ages on crime motivated by profit, challenges in the relationship between the state and the market, corruption, dilemmas that arise in international markets, and what the authorities and others can do about it. What her audiences have in common is that they are not experts on the topics she talks about.
In parallel, Tina presents her research to colleagues from all over the world at international research conferences abroad. She also invites experts in the field to research conferences, be it in New York or at NHH, as is the case now in March.
Benefits her research and teaching
"I get a lot out of both these formats. It’s challenging to give a good talk to an audience that knows little about the topic in advance. I spend a lot of time preparing. After all, dissemination takes place in context, and I give my best talks when I know a good deal about the audience and what level of knowledge they possess in advance. If I’m talking to adolescents, I test my ideas on my own kids at home. When I know who’s in the audience, it's easier to talk about the topic in a way – and in a language – that is relevant to them. If they seem indifferent, I change tactics along the way".
Tina explains: "Dissemination is about simplifying and finding the very core of the matter: What is this really about? I learn a lot from these processes myself."
"I like meeting people and finding out what they’re interested in. When they ask me questions, I’m forced to think about how I can answer them in a different way than when I’m talking to colleagues in the field. I have to think carefully about what I can say is definitely true. The questions 'ordinary people' ask make me reflect differently on the matter and see it from a different perspective. There’s no doubt that this benefits my research and teaching."
Adviser to journalists
Tina explains that it was when she started as a research fellow at NHH in the premises of the Chr. Michelsen Institute in 2000 that her 'career in dissemination' took off. She participated at a media training course and still actively uses what she learnt there.
"I like being a sparring partner for journalists. Sometimes they call me up and ask: What do you think is the most interesting issue in this case? What is it that we’re not seeing? Then I get a chance to define the news and to influence how current events are reported."
She explains that in these cases she is not quoted, and that is not the point either.
"Other times, I serve as a form of 'switchboard'. Journalists contact me and ask me who they should contact in this or that case. That’s also fine. I have a large network and am happy to help."
Tina also says that talking about highly sensitive issues in the media is a matter of practice, for example cases where someone is facing criminal charges. In these cases, she needs to be extra careful with what she says and to avoid coming across as a 'judge'.
"I think it’s a good thing that NHH regularly holds courses for the staff in media training, in how to write opinion pieces, and in dissemination. The Office of Communications and Marketing has been very useful in providing support and advice in difficult cases."
Role model
"I have worked with many highly skilled disseminators. Professor Kalle Moene at the University of Oslo gives more than fifty popular science lectures a year, at the same time as he scores high on teaching and research. I find that inspiring."
Tina talks about how she got to know senior researcher Astri Suhrke already as a master’s student at the Chr. Michelsen Institute. In addition to being a researcher, Suhrke had worked as a journalist, and the keen student witnessed how the senior researcher elegantly adapted her messages to colleagues, clients and people without specialist expertise.
"Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås, also a senior researcher at CMI, has been an important role model for me in terms of giving objective, accurate information, and she still manages to make me see the essence of a problem," says Tina.
"And then there’s Susan Rose Ackerman at Yale – a star in my field of research. Among the many things she taught me was to keep a distance to what I’m studying and to remain neutral, and I always try to stick to that advice."
Media advice from the Office of Communications and Marketing