Beyond the Obvious

Abstract

There is a general tendency, amongst policy and certain academic circles, to assume that universities are simple strategic actors capable and willing to respond to a well-articulated set of regional demands.In reality, however, universities are extremely complex organizations that operate in highly institutionalized environments and are susceptible to regulative shifts, resource dependencies and fluctuations in student numbers. Understanding universities' contributions -and capacities to contribute -to regional development and innovation requires understanding these internal dynamics and how they interact with external environmental agents. Based on a comparative study across various national settings and regional contexts, the chapter highlights the types of tensions and volitions that universities face while attempting to fulfil their 'third mission'. Building upon the existing literature and novel empirical insights, the chapter advances a new conceptual model for opening the 'black-box' of the university-region interface and disentangling the impacts of purposive, political efforts to change universities' internal fabric and to institutionalize the regional mission..

Initiating and Anchoring an Academic Course on Societal Collaboration:

“…Similarly, in Sweden, which this paper emanates from, the role of academia has expanded from being an actor responsible for teaching and learning to being a knowledge producer in collaboration with society (Bjursell, Dobers and Ramsten 2016;Grafström, Jonsson and Klintman 2020). This change stems from an institutional shift in the higher education system that includes growing pressure from the political, public and private sectors on HEIs to engage in knowledge collaboration with other societal actors (Pinheiro, Geschwind and Aarrevaara 2014;Pinheiro, Benneworth and Jones 2015). This growing pressure has paved the way for numerous concepts, such as integrated science, social accountability, entrepreneurship, and overall economic relevance to society (Fumasoli 2019;Leydesdorff and Etzkowitz 1996;Yang 2018).…”

“…If the compatibility is weak, new initiatives or structures are typically rejected or decoupled from current practice (Maasen et al, 2017). Indeed, several studies have shown that societal collaboration tends to be decoupled from core internal HEI structures and that institutionalising such practices into the everyday HEI routines and norms is hard to reach (Pinheiro, Benneworth andJones 2015, Benner andSörlin, 2015). Our story brings fine-grained insights into the unfolding and consequences of this situation.…”

“…Although the shift toward collaboration in knowledge production has initiated new efforts and the build-up of supportive structures at the organisational level in higher education institutions (HEIs), it has also given rise to tensions and inertia within these organisations that complicate the organisation and governance of collaborative efforts (Pinheiro, Benneworth and Jones, 2015;Pinheiro, Geschwind and Aarrevaara, 2014). Responses to the shift at the system and institutional level are seen in formulations in governance structures and strategic documents, but this is not always transferred to the micro level or practice.…”