Boosting Scientific Creativity Among Researchers: How Efficient are Creativity Trainings?

Abstract

How can scientific creativity be fostered or encouraged among researchers? The present contribution proposes a critical and constructive review of programs or methods designed to develop the creative abilities of individuals, the so-called ‘creativity trainings’. More specifically, it examines whether these trainings can be used in the specific context of scientific disciplines, and how efficient they are. At first glance, the literature seems to indicate that creativity trainings are effective when it comes to stimulating individual creativity, including scientific creativity. However, these general conclusions should not overshadow the serious limitations of these studies. Some of these theoretical and methodological limitations are common to all creativity trainings (e.g., difficulties in defining creativity itself), while others are specific to scientific creativity trainings (e.g., linked to specificities of scientific work). In a nutshell, all trainings are not made equal and do not look as efficient as they seem to be. This contribution also proposes some recommendations that would allow researchers to produce more valid results and to make it easier to interpret the results of creative training studies in the scientific domain and beyond.