Traditionally, and from a Humboltian perspective, research was conceived as an important part of the tripartite mission of universities, with teaching and services to the community being the other two. The traditional idea of universities as cultural and social institutions is increasingly being replaced by another: the entrepreneurial, capitalist or, even, industrial university. In the new university, research also changes in line with the economic instrumentality of higher education. In this article, we shall analyse if these new ideas were institutionalised in Portuguese public universities. To do this, we analyse the way in which research is signified in communication processes by analysing the content of universities' websites. In the main webpages, the dominant implicit social meaning of research seems to be a traditional one. However, a more specific analysis reveals the presence of entrepreneurial elements. In Portuguese public universities, creating and commercialising intellectual property could be an institutional objective, but it was not used in the web communication as such. One could say that, despite the New Public Management influences on universities, the idea of research as an entrepreneurial issue was not yet completely institutionalised and, consequently, communication tools such as websites showed hybrid meanings of research.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.