Epistemic governance and epistemic innovation policy in higher education

David F J Campbell,Elias G Carayannis

doi:10.1186/s40660-016-0008-2

Abstract

Epistemic governance and epistemic innovation policy formulate a critique against too-narrowly defined approaches to governance, where governance follows one-sidedly bureaucratic or technocratic considerations. Instead, epistemic governance (also quality management and quality enhancement) and epistemic innovation policy should be regarded as a plea for a more comprehensive understanding, where the explicit-making, comprehension and reflection of knowledge, knowledge production, and knowledge application are keys for a successful governing and governance. For the further progress of advanced knowledge society, advanced knowledge economy, and advanced knowledge democracy, universities and the higher education sectors are crucial for driving development. How should the governance of higher education, the quality enhancement of universities, and the careers of academic faculty (the academic profession) be organized? Epistemic governance introduces here a novel approach and understanding. Epistemic governance emphasizes that the underlying epistemic structure, the underlying epistemic base, or the underlying epistemic paradigms (knowledge paradigms) of those organizations, institutions, or systems (sectors), which should be governed, are being addressed. This defines a benchmark and set of criteria for internal and external governance in higher education that is interested in applying a good, effective, and sustainable governance. Quality assurance, quality enhancement, and quality management of higher education, from the perspective of epistemic governance, should also orient themselves to quality and quality dimensions that cross-refer to the underlying epistemic structure of higher education. In a traditional understanding, the academic career patterns of the academic core faculty at universities follow a tenure-track logic. Cross-employment (multi-employment), on the contrary, refers to academic faculty (the academic profession) with simultaneous employment contracts to more than one organization only within or both inside and outside of higher education. Epistemic governance, in combination with crossemployment, should add to the organizational flexibility and creativity of universities and other higher education institutions, supporting the integration of a pluralism and diversity of knowledge production (basic research in the context of knowledge application and innovation), the formation of nonlinear innovation networks, and providing a rationale for a new type of academic career model.

Highlights

The concept of epistemic governance is based on the understanding that the underlying epistemic structure, the underlying epistemic base, and the underlying epistemic paradigms of those organizations, institutions, or systems are being addressed, which should be governed
In the following, we want to review some of the dominant paradigms of knowledge and knowledge production in the higher education sector that currently exist or co-exist: Epistemic Governance of and in higher education: for example, quality assurance and quality enhancement
What does the concept of linear innovation mean and imply? Referring to research, the implications are as follows: universities and the higher education sector, in general, focus on basic research that is mostly publicly financed

Summary

Introduction

The concept of epistemic governance is based on the understanding that the underlying epistemic structure, the underlying epistemic base, and the underlying epistemic paradigms of those organizations, institutions, or systems (sectors) are being addressed, which should be governed. A more detailed definition of epistemic governance would stress: “‘Epistemic’ governance of and in higher education requires that the underlying epistemic structure of higher education and, more the underlying paradigms of the produced knowledge are being addressed. One important implication is: “good, sustainable and effective (external and/or internal) governance of organizations, institutions or systems (sectors) is in the long run only possible, when the underlying epistemic structure, the underlying epistemic base or the underlying epistemic paradigms” are indicated Vadrot (2011) introduced the concept of epistemic governance to academic debate in reference to social ecology. Campbell and Carayannis (2013a) were the first to apply the concept of epistemic governance to higher education

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