The Road to Ecological University: A Metaphor Analysis from the Perspectives of Academicians and External Stakeholders

Abstract

This study sought to explain the idea of the university from the perspectives of academicians and external stakeholders through metaphors. The study was designed as a qualitative phenomenological study. Semi-structured interviews were held with 33 key people, 11 of whom were from the university and 22 of whom were external stakeholders, notably experts on the industry, natural environment, and culture of Gaziantep province in Turkey. The findings of this study revealed that participants used metaphors such as mother, factory, scientist, and conductor, emphasizing the university's role as a center of research, teaching, and the leader in the region. The most significant finding of the study, however, is that the participants in the study produced metaphors such as octopus, forest, and brain that point out the interconnectedness of the university with its surrounding ecologies, just as indicated in the ecological university model, which tries to develop the many surrounding ecosystems with which the university is interconnected, and which works systematically with the other institutions in its eco-system.