“A systemic orientation is like a critical exercise. It means naming and questioning boundaries and saying, are those right for our work moving forward?”
Press Pause: Rethinking Systems and Evaluation
Emily Gates · Associate Professor of Evaluation, Boston College
About this episode
In this episode, Matt and Tenille sit down with Associate Professor Emily Gates from Boston College to explore the limits of outcomes-focused evaluation and what it truly means to evaluate systemic change. Together, they unpack the importance of boundaries, perspectives, and stewardship in systems practice, and why evaluators may need to act less like neutral judges and more like facilitators of critical deliberation. Emily invites us to pause, self-critique, and think differently about how evaluation can contribute to meaningful, lasting change.
Key takeaways
Boundaries are the starting point
A systemic orientation to evaluation begins with questioning the given boundaries around problems, interventions, and what counts as success, rather than simply accepting them.
Systemic change isn't automatic
Running multiple interventions doesn't equal systems change. It requires deliberate, collaborative engagement with complexity throughout the entire process.
Evaluators as facilitators of deliberation
Rather than simply answering questions with methods, evaluators should support ongoing critical dialogue about what success means, whose values are centred, and who is left out.
Stewardship matters
Systems practice requires individuals and organisations to interrogate their professional roles and siloed ways of working, recognising that we all co-create systems every day.
Pause and self-critique
Before rushing to do evaluation differently, the field needs more critical reflection on what it really means to change practice and what our responsibilities are in transformation.
Topics covered
- Systems thinking
- Systemic change
- Evaluation theory
- Boundary critique
- Critical systems practice
- Stewardship
- Values in evaluation