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This study explores the extent to which work and organizational (W&O) psychology practitioners use evidence, how they apply it to the everyday contexts in which they work, and the types of barriers they encounter in so doing. It adopts a mixed methods approach involving the administration of a survey to a UK sample (N = 163) of W&O psychologists and a series of semi-structured interviews (N = 25) exploring in greater depth how evidence is applied in practice. Findings reveal that practitioners consult a wide range of different types of evidence which they employ at various stages of engagement with client organizations and that this evidence is pressed into service in the pursuit of solutions which are both acceptable from the client perspective and consistent with the scientific standards underpinning professional knowledge and expertise in W&O psychology. Barriers to evidence-use were mainly practical in nature, concerning issues around managing the client–consultant relationship and the particularities of implementation context, both of which were shown to influence evidence utilization. The study contributes to current debate on the extent to which W&O psychologists adopt an evidence-based approach and provides a valuable and much called-for empirical insight into the enactment of the scientist–practitioner model in W&O psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a research on knowledge transfer (KT) activity in the academic community which explores the boundaries between higher education and its surrounding. It analyzes both institutional and individual barriers that block academic engagement in KT activities as well as the roles and competencies required by academics in this area. Results indicate the essential of defining the role and competencies required by academics.