Rethinking the ‘third mission’: UK universities and regional engagement in challenging times

Lebeau, Yann; Cochrane, Allan

doi:10.1080/21568235.2015.1044545

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Impacts on SD materialize along complex pathways, particularly in the area of research and education (Koehn and Uitto, 2014). They can be direct and indirect, intended and unintended and positive and negative; they may present themselves after a significant time lag, at a distance from the HEI's location, or at a systems level (Lebeau and Cochrane, 2015). As Bowen (2018, p. 26) notes, "For individuals, the outcomes of higher education are harvested over adult lifetimes averaging fifty to sixty years after graduation from college.…”

Section: Ijshementioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development

Findler

Schönherr

Lozano

et al. 2019

IJSHE

257

135

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Purpose This paper aims to conceptualize impacts of higher education institutions (HEIs) on sustainable development (SD), complementing previous literature reviews by broadening the perspective from what HEIs do in pursuit of SD to how these activities impact society, the environment and the economy. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2005 and 2017. Inductive content analysis was applied to identify major themes and impact areas addressed in the literature to develop a conceptual framework detailing the relationship between HEIs’ activities and their impacts on SD. Findings The paper identifies six impact areas where direct and indirect impacts of HEIs on SD may occur. The findings indicate a strong focus on case studies dealing with specific projects and a lack of studies analyzing impacts from a more holistic perspective. Practical implications This systematic literature review enables decision-makers in HEIs, researchers and educators to better understand how their activities may affect society, the environment and the economy, and it provides a solid foundation to tackle these impacts. Social implications The review highlights that HEIs have an inherent responsibility to make societies more sustainable. HEIs must embed SD into their systems while considering their impacts on society. Originality/value This paper provides a holistic conceptualization of HEIs’ impacts on SD. The conceptual framework can be useful for future research that attempts to analyze HEIs’ impacts on SD from a holistic perspective.

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Section: Ijshementioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development

Findler

Schönherr

Lozano

et al. 2019

IJSHE

257

135

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous studies emphasise, that universities' third mission is heavily shaped by their regional context (Salomaa, 2019); As also the formulation and implementation of SF Operational Programmes are nationally differentiated and very dependent on regional circumstances (Bachtler & Wren, 2007), further comparative studies on entrepreneurial universities' engagement with SF projects could provide more insight on the ways their third stream activities are delivered on a micro scale (Lebeau & Cochrane, 2015). Further evidence could facilitate designing institutional strategies for managing the third mission more efficiently so that each mission enhances one another (Etzkowitz & Kloften, 2005;Etzkowitz, 2013), taking different individual, disciplinary and institutional issues into account (Pinheiro et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, universities seeking to become entrepreneurial should acknowledge that their regional contexts steer the way they can implement third stream activities (Salomaa, 2019), and identify how the third mission can be delivered on a micro scale instead of using the concept merely in 'promotional terms' (Lebeau & Cochrane, 2015). SF programmes can support universities to deliver engagement activities, especially in less-developed regions: previous case studies show that they have contributed to creating the foundations of regional systems of innovation as well as having reinforced universities' regional engagement (Charles & Michie, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The university third mission and the European Structural Funds in peripheral regions: insights from Finland

Salomaa

Charles

2019

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Current EU policies prioritise supporting national and regional R&D activities and innovation systems. In particular, Cohesion Policy transformed into national Structural Funds (SF) Operational Programmes aim to foster local level innovation. At the same time, the discussion on universities' 'third mission' has expanded and the role of universities has become crucial both in regional innovation strategy formulation and implementation of these strategies, which partly guide the access to local SF funding. However, binding the third mission to interaction with regional industry and fostering regional entrepreneurship and economic growth is not uncomplicated. This is also the case with university-led SF projects, though they can enable matching research better with local priorities. Through a case study of the University Consortium of Pori, a multidisciplinary higher education network located in a peripheral region of Satakunta in Western Finland, this paper investigates how entrepreneurial universities can manage and deliver their third mission through Structural Funds programmes in a rural region. The tentative findings reveal individual researchers' strong commitment to regional engagement, but the implementation of SF projects remains challenging for Finnish universities because of institutional issues, higher education policies focusing on traditional academic outputs and the strict guidelines of SF funding. Only strategically planned university-led SF projects can generate synergies between teaching, research and engagement activities, which is not easily achieved without a strong engagement of the university management. As the SF programmes are heavily dependent on the regional context, further comparative studies on university-led SF projects could provide more insights on the ways the third mission activities can be delivered and managed more efficiently.

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“…In combination, the conceptual and empirical attempts to delineate the third mission demonstrate the breadth of types of activities, objectives, and targeted actors. The political desire for universities to contribute to material reproduction, nationally and regionally, has intensely stimulated university-industry interaction (Clark 1998;Rosli & Rossi 2016), but broader commitments and responsibilities towards cultural, social, and political reproduction of civil society and political communities nourish different kinds of interaction between universities, policymakers, and citizens or organisations in civil society (Goddard and Vallance 2013;Lebeau and Cochrane 2015;Pinheiro et al 2015b;Leydesdorff and Etzkowitz 2003). Particularly salient societal problems (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of third mission engagement among scientists and engineers

Mejlgaard

Ryan

2017

Research Evaluation

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In the context of growing societal demand and interdependency, universities need to prioritize their 'third mission' activities and balance them against core functions. Individual researchers too are faced with multiple external constituencies and various mechanisms for interaction. The degree, target, and mode of their involvement with societal actors must be considered in light also of high performance expectations concerning traditional teaching and research activities. In this study, we explore patterns of third mission involvement among 652 researchers at the Science and Technology Faculty, Aarhus University from 2009-2012 using register-based data. First, we collect 13 indicators of third mission involvement from the university register system PURE, and find that these can be organised in distinct sets. External interaction and knowledge sharing can take many shapes, but they appear to group together empirically in ways that reflect the external partners and mode of involvement. Second, we determine five clusters of researchers based on their third mission activities. The majority of researchers has limited engagement in any kind of third mission activities, while an almost negligible minority entertain activities across the board. The remaining researchers focus their engagement on one type of third mission activity: public sector service, industrial collaboration, or executive involvement. Finally, we explore the interrelatedness of third mission involvement and research performance. Researchers who work closely with industry perform extremely well in terms of both publication productivity and impact, while those primarily engaged with public authorities perform considerably below average. We contextualise the results and highlight the limitations of the study.

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Rethinking the ‘third mission’: UK universities and regional engagement in challenging times

Cited by 23 publications

References 27 publications

The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development

The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development

The university third mission and the European Structural Funds in peripheral regions: insights from Finland

Patterns of third mission engagement among scientists and engineers

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