Identifying future directions for IC research in education: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing the state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in this special issue on IC in education. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This research uses the structured literature to investigate the state-of-the-art and future directions of IC literature in education. In total, 47 articles are explored including nine from this special issue. Findings IC in education research is concentrated in Europe and mainly addresses IC in universities. Additionally, current IC research is progressing by examining IC practices inside universities using a third-stage IC approach, with new research also concentrating on third-mission outcomes, thus there is scope to continue IC and education research beyond universities. IC in education can also expand into fifth stage IC research, which abandons the boundaries of the educational institution and concentrate on the impact of IC and education on multiple stakeholders. Research limitations/implications Current IC in education research is too narrow and mainly investigates IC in European contexts using case study methodology. However, there is ample scope to widen research that develops new frameworks in different educational and country contexts using a wider range of research methodologies. IC in education needs to expand its boundaries so it does not lose its relevance, and thus be able to contribute to wider policy debates. Originality/value This paper presents the current state-of-the-art structured literature review of the articles investigating IC in education.

Intellectual Capital Reporting of Universities – A Third Mission Oriented Approach to Communication with Stakeholders

“…They also fall in line with Dumay and Garanina's (2013) call for the third stage of IC research, concerning the intensified investigation needs to explore how IC measurement and reporting is used for managing IC e.g. in universities as well as with Bisogno et al (2018) fourth-stage studies concerning the the social dimensions of universities' IC.…”

“…Following the literature of Bisogno et al (2018) concerning future directions for IC research in education, it may be state that the social dimension of IC is extremely important for universities considering their third mission. It falls in the so called 'fourth stage' of IC research (Dumay, 2013;Dumay & Garanina, 2013;Guthrie et al, 2012) that focuses on discriminating and connecting the human capital inside the organization with relational capital outside the organization (Dumay, 2013;Dumay & Garanina, 2013).…”

The Evaluation of Universities’ Third Mission and Intellectual Capital: Theoretical Analysis and Application to Italy

“…In the past decade, various approaches for the use of an intellectual capital perspective were developed: The RICARDIS document, proposed by the European Commission, states the key role of intellectual capital in the knowledge economy, even if it is typically associated with private companies. More recent studies [75] show the central role of intellectual capital also for public entities and, of course, for public universities; consequently, the focus on it in higher education is increasing.…”

Measuring Intellectual Capital in Schools in the Developing Country of Pakistan

“…Wide-reaching advances in the means of communication and technologies during the 21 st Century are crossing local and national boundaries and contributing to the development of new global economies based upon knowledge resources, called intangible assets (Bisogno et al, 2018). Intangible assets contribute to knowledge creation and to the development of IC in organizations.…”