Positioning Civic Engagement on the Higher Education Landscape: Insights from a civically engaged pedagogy

Analysing the literature on university social responsibility: A review of selected higher education journals

“…Universities are public entities that have been linked to society since their origins and this interconnection has acquired wider relevance in recent years (Hart & Northmore, ). This has raised expectations that society has of universities to reflect a greater diversity, and these institutions are now interacting with an increased and varied number of stakeholders (Boland, ). The linking up of universities and their communities leads to engagement being considered as another dimension on which these institutions are judged by stakeholders (Jongbloed et al, ).…”

“…The linking up of universities and their communities leads to engagement being considered as another dimension on which these institutions are judged by stakeholders (Jongbloed et al, ). Conceptually, Holland (, p. 7; cited by Boland, , p. 103) considered that an engaged university is an institution ‘committed to direct interaction with external constituencies and communities through the mutually beneficial exchange, exploration and application of knowledge, expertise and information’. Jongbloed et al (, p. 313) referred to engagement as a ‘set of activities through which the university can demonstrate its relevance to the wider society and be held accountable’.…”

“…Other papers have examined both the civic actions of institutions and of different internal stakeholders, such as faculty, staff and students (Iverson & James, ). Nevertheless, the measurement of civic engagement activities presents important challenges and this could be examined in further research (Boland, ). Hart and Northmore () pointed out that the creation of tools for university civic engagement is still in its early stage.…”

Embracing Entrepreneurship

“…As Watson (2003, 25) suggests, civic engagement is one of the common practice among social third mission, it implies "strenuous, thoughtful, argumentative interaction with the non-university world in at least four spheres: setting universities' aims, purposes, and priorities; relating teaching and learning to the wider world; the back-and-forth dialogue between researchers and practitioners; and taking on wider responsibilities as neighbors and as citizens." The expectation of the role of universities has been transformed to a more diversified way in which they serve the needs of the society and community with non-financial benefit orientation and focused on civic engagement (Boland 2011). On the other hand, the interpretation of social third mission provided by Montesinos et al (2008) focuses on the international activities in higher education such as staff exchange programmes and international projects for developing countries.…”

Students in action: a destination-based learning approach to student engagement

“…More recently, this role has come under scrutiny and the range of expectations which society has of higher education has expanded and diversified (Boland, 2011). Powell and Clark (2012) note that a 2011 report by the EU Committee on the Regions outlines that 'the gap between the latest research knowledge and real life practice is huge'.…”