From Academic Production to Societal Impact: A Reform-Oriented Approach to the Role of Social Sciences in Public Policy

This policy brief aims to strengthen the impact of social sciences on public policymaking in Tunisia by addressing two main challenges: an academic evaluation system that does not recognize societal impact, and an uncontrolled massification of higher education that has weakened training quality and the capacity to produce local expertise able to influence decision-making. It proposes a dual reform that integrates “societal impact and service to the community” into academic evaluation criteria and creates excellence doctoral schools in applied social sciences, where students are required to produce policy briefs addressed to decision-makers, thereby establishing a positive loop that links scientific research to development and policymaking in Tunisia.