Abstract
This article examines the effect of location on the development of new universities. The study was conducted in seven new higher education institutions (HEIs) established in India during 1996–2008. I collected the data by conducting semi-structured interviews with 73 faculty members in the HEIs and from official documents, media reports and opinion pieces about the HEIs. Using the conceptual framework of path dependency, I investigated the tensions and challenges faced by the HEIs in their initial years. I find the placement of the HEIs in their respective locations to be a contingent event that can make the development of HEIs path dependent. I find that the initial conditions and decisions of the HEIs were influenced by the location and led to reactive sequential events in their initial years with effects that were hard to shake off, making their development path dependent. I show that having to develop their infrastructure and constrained by resources, the HEIs started their academic programmes first, followed by their research activities, and outreach and regional engagement.
Highlights
In the past few decades, several countries, such as China, India, Russia and Singapore, have established new universities at the top end of their stratified higher education systems
This article aims to provide an understanding about the development of such new universities in their initial years
The main question that I investigate in this article is, how does the location of new universities shape their development in the initial years? The initial years of new universities is critical for them to chart new paths, generate momentum and cement their position in the national higher education system
Summary
In the past few decades, several countries, such as China, India, Russia and Singapore, have established new universities at the top end of their stratified higher education systems. Sans the inertia and rigid academic boundaries of established universities, they experiment with new ideas of teaching and research, launch innovative academic programmes and develop distinctive features (Altbach et al 2018) Their initial years is a period of change and building up of momentum and is noticeably different from the period of sustaining the change in a steady state (Clark; 2003). The development of new universities in the initial years is steered by the decisions and activities of a small number of individuals instead of a coordinated strategic approach (Clark 1998) Their nature of development during this period can be described as “evolutionary” that is emergent or unintentional (Mezias and Glynn 1993). This study can provide insights into the growth of new single disciplinary universities as a model of expansion in other higher education systems
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