Boundary spanning as identity work in university business engagement roles

Abstract

The study explores how boundary-spanning is carried out to further community engagement in 15 universities of differing sizes/ages across the United Kingdom. Fifteen interviewees participated in a series of four semi-structured interviews, aged between 35-50 and with a first degree (with almost half with an MSc). One third were women. All managed their own teams and felt these were their base in negotiating difficult internal territory.. Here, boundary spanning is found to be synonymous with identity work, carried out to enable individuals to adapt to different internal and external conditions and requirements through processes of interaction and learning. It also suggests the strategic construction of identities to address perceived threats and insecurities -and the impacts of change, dominant organisational discourse and senior management on this process. Their job titles were not useful as identity badges to signal meaning, due to these being outside 'what universities are for'.

The role of brokers in cultivating an inter-institutional community around open educational resources in higher education

“…Although these studies provide valuable insights into the role of boundary spanners, it is important to note that our understanding of boundary spanning mainly derives from organizational theory. Within the context of higher education, previous studies have mainly explored boundary spanning roles in university-industry collaboration (Corsi et al, 2021 ; Martin & Ibbotson, 2021 ; Oonk et al, 2020 ), within transnational partnerships (Bordogna, 2019 ) and university-school partnerships (Akkerman & Bruining, 2016 ; Nguyen, 2020 ), as well as the role of leaders as boundary spanners (Prysor & Henley, 2018 ), but little is known about boundary spanners within inter-institutional collaborations. Hill ( 2020 ) examined boundary spanning behaviour of brokers intended to connect their campus with the wider network of institutes, but the focus of these brokers was on exploring and transferring the value of the network to their own campus.…”

Talent management in English universities during the coronavirus pandemic

“…New pressures for universities have arisen as a result of a series of ongoing governmental policy changes and these have impacted on university life and academic work (Clarke et al, 2013 ; Martin, Lord, & Warren‐Smith, 2020 ). These changes, together with heightened competition and an increase in new technologies, may mean that staff, processes and structures struggle to evolve quickly enough (Martin & Ibbotson, 2019 ). Doctoral processes are based on beliefs about traditional knowledge transfer, where skills and knowledge are imparted from the master to the apprentice over time, a model at odds with a “workload model” culture (Bastalich, 2017 ; Lee, 2008 ).…”