Triple translation: academic and managerial discourses of knowledge transfer policy in a new university in Scotland

Abstract

Higher education systems in many parts of the world are experiencing the emergence of policies for knowledge transfer (KT). KT policy discourse reflects attempts to make universities more responsive to the needs of the knowledge economy and can be seen as a trend towards extracting a greater contribution from universities to the economy and society as a whole. This paper explores some of the practical tensions associated with operationalisation of KT policy with an institutional case study. Discourse analysis of university documents, and interviews with managers and academics, highlight the struggle between policymakers and academics around development of a KT strategy. The case reveals the potential pitfalls of adopting a commercially-oriented approach to KT in a service-oriented academic community. Effectively capturing the academic community's sense of service to the community in policy design may be one way of ensuring success and ensuring that KT policy is not ‘lost in translation’.