University Actors Research Articles

University Actors Responding to the National Quality Assurance Regime for Higher Education in Malawi: A Case of Instrumentality, Pragmatism and Symbolic Compliance

ABSTRACTThe literature shows that the question of how to integrate quality assurance into higher education institutions is associated with several obstacles including non‐support from university actors. This study explored the university actors' response to the recently implemented external quality assurance and accreditation regime for higher education in Malawi. The findings showed that university actors respond to external quality assurance in divergent ways, mainly characterised by formal instrumentality, professional pragmatism and symbolic compliance. This meant that it would be naïve for external quality assurance agencies to assume that when university actors participate in external accreditation processes, it means that they embrace external quality assurance as a mechanism for enhancing quality. The implication was that national policy makers and quality assurance agencies should not consider university actors as ‘passive recipients’ that mutely accept quality assurance reforms, but rather seriously attend to them as both ‘makers’ and ‘shapers’ of policy in order to develop quality assurance systems that can be genuinely embraced. The study contributes to research that take a critical perspective in interpreting university personnel response to quality assurance.

Critical thirding and third space collaboration: university professional staff and new type of knowledge production

In this article, the author first addresses the persisting knowledge invisibility of university professional staff by drawing on selected findings from their qualitative, multiple case study research conducted in an Australian university with a campus in Singapore. Analysing a selected case of a university project, the author applies critical thirding as a concept to demonstrate how university third space collaboration resulted in creating new, Mode 3 institutional knowledge and led to a transformative change of research commercialisation practices. The author then compares research findings from this selected Australian university case study to the insights from a systematic literature review which was conducted three years later as a separate research project using an international literature sample. The review provided evidence that since the 2000s university workers, professional and academic alike, in tertiary education institutions around the world, have been engaged in complex identity work, demonstrating increased agency towards de-invisibilisation of their roles and co-creating new knowledge, thereby contributing to university advancement. The author concludes that by applying the analytical power of critical thirding to social spaces of new knowledge production, it is possible to support and promote equal contributions of all university actors to achieving institutional goals.

Creating Transformative Research–Practice Partnership in Collaboration with School, City, and University Actors

Traditional educational research has been criticized for the gap between the research and practice communities, meaning that outcomes do not transfer to educational praxis. To meet this challenge, policymakers, funders, and researchers are developing research–practice partnerships (RPPs). The purpose of this research is to study the research–practice partnership as a strategy for educational transformation in the Finnish educational context. This study highlights the multifaceted perspectives of key RPP stakeholders: teachers, principals, municipality administrators, and researchers. Their experiences were explored through semi-structured interviews. The data were examined through content analysis and categorized into themes depicting the goals and goal-setting process in RPPs, the experiences of RPP activities, and the factors facilitating and challenging RPPs. The results show that stakeholders viewed the goals through the perspectives of professional development; supporting the growth and learning of students; and developing school, municipality, and research practices. Regular participation solidified the commitment to the RPP process. Horizontal interaction worked well between stakeholders, but challenges arose with vertical interaction. We found multiple roles for researchers and municipality administrators. Researchers found that they take on a new role in RPPs as change agents and facilitators. Regarding the facilitating or challenging aspects of RPPs, an open and flexible attitude and atmosphere and readiness for change are demanded on all actor levels. Mutual appreciation and sensitivity facilitate RPP activities. We propose taking all stakeholder perspectives into account when designing RPPs aimed at systemic change and that RPP processes should facilitate both horizontal and vertical interaction.

Responding to climate change in Aotearoa New Zealand: Universities, neoliberalism and narratives of change

AbstractThis article investigates how the eight universities in Aotearoa New Zealand are responding to climate change. It employs a mixed methods approach and involves a detailed analysis of the documentation that universities have produced in relation to climate change, supported by a critical discourse analysis and interviews with key actors in universities' climate change response. All universities in Aotearoa New Zealand were found to be mobilising in response to climate change, with targets set for reducing emissions, plans developed, and work programmes underway. These targets are not limited to decarbonization but include ambitions to embed sustainability values across teaching, research and campus life. While these climate change responses contain positive and aspirational narratives grounded in indigenous values, the primary discourses perpetuate neoliberal ideas of reconciliation that suggest no radical change is needed. Universities are further constrained by the impacts of neoliberalism and their need to financially survive within an unsustainable economic paradigm. The research concludes that it seems unlikely that transformational change will be led by universities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Uncovering perspectives on SDG integration for university transformations

PurposeThis case study explores different perspectives on integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in universities to achieve university transformations. This study recognises that university actors think differently about the purpose of universities, hold diverse perspectives on the SDGs, and, thus, prefer specific types of SDG integration.Design/methodology/approachUsing Q methodology, 29 participants from one university expressed their perspectives by sorting 50 statements covering different types of SDG integration. Statements were based on academic and grey literature on SDG integration in universities, and interviews with university actors from a previous study. After the sorting task, participants were interviewed to understand the reasons behind the placement of particular statements.FindingsThe study identifies three perspectives held by the study participants. Perspective 1 emphasises the value of the SDGs and supports a deep integration of the Goals in their university. Perspective 1 also advocates for incorporating the SDGs into the university’s identity. Perspective 2 sees the university’s purpose as more comprehensive than the SDGs; thus, the university should develop knowledge regardless of its relevance to the SDGs. This perspective supports a pragmatic integration of the SDGs – favouring actions that benefit the university without introducing significant changes. Finally, Perspective 3 argues that the university should approach the SDGs through social justice and empowerment lenses. This perspective also questions the suitability of the SDGs for universities, arguing that the SDGs fail to challenge current structures underpinning the unsustainability of the world.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies have analysed diverse ways of understanding the SDGs in universities, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to treat the SDGs as a governance framework of 17 goals and adopt a whole-institution approach to study universities.

How Do Innovation Ecosystems Emerge? The Case of Nanotechnology in Israel

AbstractResearch on innovation ecosystems has identified their evolution phases but neglected their emergence, which we know little about. We offer inductive theory to explain the emergence of the nanotechnology ecosystem in Israel. Our theory suggests that ineffective bureaucracy, resource constraints, and the conflicting agendas of the government and universities create organizational bottlenecks that impede the ecosystem's emergence. Only once these actors establish related dedicated units that are immune to these deficiencies and transition to simultaneous competition and cooperation does the innovation ecosystem begin to emerge. We further reveal how enabling and governing mechanisms legitimize the innovation ecosystem, facilitate its emergence, and direct its evolution trajectory. Hence, we extend research that has centered on subsequent phases of evolution and explain how actors interact to facilitate the emergence of the ecosystem following technological discovery. Our study contributes to strategy research on interfirm coopetition by applying this concept to government and university actors, and by alluding to its multiple facets: identity, direction, administration, and resources. We also complement innovation research on the post‐formation dynamics of ecosystems by providing insights into the missing link between technological discovery and the creation of an innovation ecosystem that brings together stakeholders to commercialize that technology.

Analyzing mechanisms of interdisciplinary cooperation in promoting students’ health at university

BackgroundInterdisciplinary cooperation among university actors and resulting intersectoral synergies are considered cornerstones in the process of incorporating health promotion practices in everyday university life in order to break down barriers and provide better access to health promotion services. To date, no network of a health-promoting university has been examined regarding the processes underlying tie formation, network emergence, and maintenance.Objectives and methodsThe goals of this study are to obtain insight into the mechanisms of cooperation between university actors in a health-promoting network and to identify the structural and attributive factors associated with establishing cooperation between actors in the observed network in order to better understand how to build and develop successful networks in the future. For this purpose, a social network analysis was carried out and exponential random graph models were estimated to test corresponding hypotheses.ResultsThe network at hand consists of 33 actors (e.g. University Sports Center, General Student Committee) and shows a flat, non-hierarchical structure. Data reveal that attributed competence predicts cooperation (0.32; p < 0.05). Significant homophily effects among student actors (1.31; p < 0.05) and among university actors (0.59; p < 0.05) were found. All structural predictors examined were significant (0.22–5.40; p < 0.05) and are therefore essential in determining the likelihood of cooperation between actors involved in the network.ConclusionThe results of this study provide for a better understanding of the mechanisms of cooperation and can be used to further develop the network at hand (e.g. selection of key actors for information dissemination or integration of peripheral actors). In addition, the findings offer starting points for sustained network development at other universities (e.g. significance of network governance form or goal consensus). Knowing the factors that influence the network structure, here the conditions of cooperation, results in opportunities to encourage empowerment among actors. However, the analysis of the network undertaken does not directly bear on the success of the network.

Delivering online community service from community perspective: A critical review

This study presents a sharp and critical analysis of community service activities conducted by Indonesian university actors through zoom platform. Since the onset of the 2020 pandemic, community service activities have been compelled to transition to online platforms due to the necessity of maintaining social distancing. Even after the pandemic subsides, some campuses continue to engage in these activities. The research question addressed in this study is whether these methods align with the needs of the community. To answer this question, the study critically analyzes various scholarly articles that explore the implementation of community service through online teaching methods. The use of online media, such as Zoom, for community service training poses challenges from a community perspective. Firstly, it primarily benefits middle to upper-class communities who have the necessary equipment like smartphones or laptops with internet access, which contradicts the goal of reaching marginalized communities with limited resources. Secondly, the online format hinders active participation from both university and community actors, raising concerns about meaningful engagement. Moreover, selecting only a few individuals as representatives of the entire community further complicates community representation in online community service. The case studies lack clarity on how these participants effectively represent their communities and address their needs.

Pedagogical Orientation of the Concertmaster’s Activity as a Condition for the Professional Training of Future Actors (Competence Analysis)

The article actualizes the problem of expanding the use of professional competencies of the concertmaster, raises the question of considering the concertmaster as a subject of pedagogical activity in the framework of training future actors in a theater university, introduces the concept of “concertmaster-teacher”. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the expediency of the pedagogical orientation of the concertmaster’s activity as a necessary condition for the full development of professional competencies by future actors, with the subsequent application of this knowledge in practice. Methodology. The article provides an overview of the theoretical and methodological heritage of leading concertmasters, publications of modern researchers (E. M. Shenderovich, V. N. Chachava, V. N. Biktashev, N. A. Ravcheeva, E. R. Azeeva, etc.), which are devoted to concertmaster work. The author examines the professional competencies of the concertmaster from the point of view of their orientation to pedagogical activity in a theater university, as well as specifies the types of pedagogical activity of the concertmaster and the forms of its application in the system of professional training of future actors. At the same time, on the basis of competence analysis, the correlation between the successful professional training of future actors and the pedagogically-oriented activity of the concertmaster is revealed. The research data are listed in tables that make it possible to visually and simultaneously trace the relationship between various professional competencies and the areas of their application in various fields of activity (both concertmaster and future actors). Examples of successful activities of graduates-actors who have mastered professional training together with an accompanist at a theater university are given. Conclusion. The article concludes that the pedagogical orientation of the concertmaster’s activity is a necessary condition for the professional training of future actors, which is a positive potential in the system of higher theater education.

The Perversion of Virtue―Causes and Consequences of Threats to Academic Freedom in the Contemporary University

The authors locate contemporary fissures in academic freedom in two interrelated macro-societal developments that intensified across the second half of the twentieth century: massification, involving the exponential expansion of higher education, and standardization, an isomorphism of structure and content in academic organization. The article develops a theoretic argument that the unfurling of higher education nationally and globally together with its sociocultural consistency creates a supranatural order endowed with unprecedented power centered in the core actors of universities. While these historical developments create for universities a dominant moral authority in the contemporary epoch, they also engender moralism—an evaluation of speech, writing, and behavior that venerates emotion. To illustrate the strategies of those who deploy moralism, a comparison is drawn between moralism’s contemporary instantiation in higher education and the early medieval Catholic church’s approach to perceived competitors. The comparison demonstrates that while displays of moralism in higher education may be comparatively new, their historical uses are well-worn. While massification and standardization have entailed individual and societal benefits, a rise of moralism obstructs the academic freedom on which institutions of higher education depend.

The nature of entrepreneurs’ engagement with a layered rural context

Rural entrepreneurship has recently been reconceptualised as engagement with contexts. However, our knowledge of the nature of this engagement remains limited. In this paper, we explore the engagement of entrepreneurs hired as part-time industry mentors at regional universities. Using a qualitative approach based on grounded theory and self-ethnography, we interviewed five entrepreneurs in adjunct positions and their academic counterparts at universities in Northern Norway. We also relied on our own experience as academics collaborating with industry mentors. Our findings demonstrate that the entrepreneurs’ engagement encompasses and combines the business, academic and spatial layers of the entrepreneurs’ context and that it unfolds in the form of knowledge-sharing practices. Our study makes several contributions. First, it contributes to the limited empirical research on rural entrepreneurship as engagement with context and gives a novel and detailed account of how this engagement unfolds in practice. Second, it contributes by adding new insight into how entrepreneurs relate to a layered rural context. In particular, we emphasise that the knowledge-sharing practices help in crossing boundaries between the layers. Third, our study offers some practical contributions for rural entrepreneurs, policymakers and actors in regional innovation systems and regional universities.

A semantic-based approach for automating compliance by the design of digital services - a case study in the academic sector

Monitoring University students’ progress, in an interactive, synchronised, and coordinated way across a given study program is a challenge. Indeed, for a given student journey, University actors need a service offering personalised views and actions depending on their role (students, study advisors, scientific committee, faculty members, admission office), all linked to the same underlying information system, and abiding study regulations. The challenge is even greater when it comes to scaling up and providing such service for the whole University community (approx. 23K members in Geneva). Following a service science approach, we derived a method for automatically generating a service, compliant by design to study regulations, and offering personalised views to the various actors. The automatic implementation of the study regulations is based on the definition of generic rules able to define the different elements of the regulations that need to be respected across all curricula and programs. We provide a case study based on the PhD students regulations. We describe a proof-of-concept instantiating the service from the rules, role-centric views of the interface, as well as the underlying architecture relying on a semantic reasoning engine. The work presented in this paper has the potential to alleviate and improve the tasks of all the various actors involved in students monitoring, going beyond PhD students. This approach automatises the implementations of any study program and can be applied to any University.

“I’ve Lived Everything They Are Trying to Teach Me”: Latinx Immigrant Youth’s Ambivalent Educational Mobility in White Evangelical Universities

Undocumented Latinx youth in Tennessee envision higher education as the single pathway to enable their upward economic and social mobility. Many of these young people enroll in private, historically white, Evangelical Christian colleges that provide financial support otherwise unavailable to undocumented youth. At the same time, university actors struggle to meet students’ other needs as undocumented and minoritized individuals. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, I demonstrate how youth struggle with the hidden personal costs of educational access and the upward mobility it promises. Most significantly, Latinx immigrant youth must navigate the tensions between the ever-present legacy of racial segregation and animus in Evangelical traditions and their status as the embodiment of newfound, institutionally desirable “diversity.” As these students negotiate deeply racialized social and academic orders, they grow ambivalent about the promises of educational mobility, particularly if that mobility is contingent upon conforming to “respectable” forms of diversity. Centering youth’s ambivalence reveals both the contingent value of educational mobility to those experiencing it and the limits of university policies intended to increase educational access.

Hexahelix Concept in The Development of Eco-Tourism Area in The Kelating Traditional Village Eco-Tourism Area, Kerambitan District, Tabanan Regency

One of the ecotourism that is developing in Tabanan Regency is ecotourism which is managed by indigenous peoples with the aim of empowering local indigenous communities. One of these actor collaborations is known as the Hexahelix Concept, which is a collaboration of six actors in managing ecotourism areas. This research uses mixed methods with the main focus on qualitative methods and strengthened by quantitative research methods. The indicator used in this research is the role of each actor in solving the problems faced by the manager. There are 13 informants to be interviewed and 75 respondents. The results of this study are the role of government actors as evidenced through the provision of road infrastructure access to the location of the ecotourism area in the Kelating Adat Village, the role of community actors (Indigenous Villages and BUPDA) in the development of ecotourism areas in the Kelating traditional village is realized through the establishment of the Baga Utsaha Padruwen Adat Village (BUPDA). ), the role of private actors in the development of ecotourism areas in the Kelating Traditional Village is realized through its CSR program in the development of ecotourism areas in the Kelating Traditional Village, the role of university actors in the development of ecotourism areas in the Kelating Traditional Village is realized through the implementation of community service activities through the creation of a master plan, and the role of media elements and creative communities in the development of ecotourism areas in the Kelating Indigenous Village by helping to promote and publicize the location of the ecotourism area in the Kelating Traditional Village through social media content created by the creative community, and publication of articles or literature. exclusive putan in newspapers by mass media.

European colonization and the transmission of the Ewondo language in Cameroon and Abroad: Historical and transnational perspectives

European colonization has deeply marked the linguistic practices in different African territories until today. Cameroon, which was colonized by Germany from 1884 to 1916 and by France and Great Britain from 1916 to 1960, is formally a bilingual country with French and English being its two official languages. However, the linguistic reality of the country goes way beyond these two languages. Today, more than 250 African languages are spoken in Cameroon. This article focuses on the experiences of Alexis-Bienvenu Belibi, who was born in Yaoundé in 1950 and who is today Professor Emeritus of African languages at the École normale supérieure of Yaoundé. The article evokes Belibi’s family history, his schooling, university studies and his career as a high school teacher and as a university professor. It thereby examines the different school policies implemented in Cameroon toward African languages over time as well as the impact of university actors on ongoing political changes in the educational field. It also addresses demands from the Cameroonian diaspora in Europe and the world concerning the learning of Ewondo. The article is written in the form of a conversation between Alexis-Bienvenu Belibi and Elise Pape, a Franco-German sociologist specialized in the fields of migration studies and of postcolonial memories.

Framing the use of performance management in universities: the paradox of business disciplines

PurposeThis paper explores how performance-management systems are understood and framed through the use of rhetoric and language within universities, where not-for-profit, charitable goals are (or should be) central. It addresses the issues of: how strategic rhetorical frames are used by university actors; and how these relate to actors' primary frames and reactions to performance-management practices. The study focuses on the case of UK universities, taking into consideration both old and newer institutions.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a case-study approach, relying on 28 interviews with key-academic actors involved in the design and implementation of university performance-management systems in four UK universities.FindingsThe research highlights the important effect of primary frames over the strategic frames that are mobilised to achieve desired outcomes or individual advantage. In Business disciplines, the consistency between actors' primary frames and managerial and performance-management tools introduced into universities makes such disciplines a fertile ground for these practices to be embraced. This is not the case with Natural Sciences.Practical implicationsWhile framing a new practice consistently with existing/prevailing primary frames may be a winning strategy in the short term, in the long term, those tasked with introducing new practices should consider that the prevalence of a certain view of the world has the potential to hamper innovation and learning.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to advance our understanding of the interaction between individual primary and strategic frames, as well as academic staff's reactions and interpretations of performance-management practices in universities as knowledge-intensive, not-for-profit organisations.

In the Animal House

In the mid–twentieth century, the supply and control of pound dogs was a crucial area of focus and political contestation for American researchers, teachers, and academic administrators. By tracing the growth of the University of Alabama at Birmingham from a small extension school to a center of biomedical research within that context, this article explores the political economy of pound dog acquisition, revealing how stray dogs became “salvage commodities.” Rabies, a disease that disproportionately threatened the American South during the period, was strategically instrumentalized by university actors to convert the city pound into an animal production facility and expand the supply of highly valued dogs. By analyzing how this system of production was sustained by a racially stratified labor force within an intensely segregated city, the article connects the history of laboratory organisms to ongoing studies of the history of science, medicine, and capitalism.

Competing logics in budgeting in a university setting in Tanzania

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how actors’ responses to competing logics (academic and business logics) in budgetary practices in a university setting in Tanzania were shaped by state pressure, market pressure and organizational characteristics (funding certainty and changes in university ownership) and how actors’ agency was exercised in enacting competing logics.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study were collected from interviews, observations, informal discussions and document review. The data analysis processes were guided by institutional logic concepts and the role of actors’ agency.FindingsThe findings demonstrate how academic logic traditionally subsisted in a university setting in which there was funding certainty. Changes in the university’s ownership resulted in funding uncertainty. Market and state pressure increased the intensity of funding uncertainty, which supported business logic. While market logic supported the emergence of business logic, state pressure altered the balance of the competing logics. University actors responded by selective coupling and compartmentalizing where both elements of academic and business logics were enacted. While managers prioritized business logic, academics prioritized academic logic. However, the role of agency was exercised in actors’ responses, subverting both academic and business logics.Practical implicationsManagers should appropriately enact both elements of competing logics to avoid marginalization of some of the core university activities. In addition, profitable business ideas should be considered, identified, planned and implemented successfully. Moreover, there is a need to change the historically contingent and culturally situated environment when enacting competing logics. Furthermore, the state influence on universities should be considered to prevent unnecessary uncertainties in budgetary practices.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how selective coupling and compartmentalizing strategies were used by actors to enact both elements of competing logics in budgetary practices in a university setting. It further shows how actors’ agency influenced and subverted competing logics. The paper, thus, responds to the recent calls to investigate the influence of institutional logics on control practices, and the role of actors in strategically handling different logics in developing countries (Damayanthi and Gooneratne, 2017; Argento et al., 2020; Anessi-Pessina et al., 2016; Grossi et al., 2020). It further suggests new analysis of academic and business logics in their context.

An Orchestration Perspective on Open Innovation between Industry–University: Investigating Its Impact on Collaboration Performance

Since open innovation between industry–university is a highly complex phenomenon, its orchestration may be of great support for better collaboration between these organizations. However, there is a lack of evidence on how an orchestration framework impacts the collaboration performance between these organizations in such a setting. Based on a research model that investigates the influence of the main orchestration dimensions on the performance of collaboration, this study offers one of the first perspectives of an orchestration process between the industry and university actors in open innovation. The developed research model was assessed using a deep learning dual-stage PLS-SEM and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis. In the first stage, the hypotheses of the research model were tested based on a disjoint two-stage approach of PLS-SEM, and the results reveal the orchestration dimensions that have a significant impact on collaboration performance. In the second stage, a deep learning network approach was successfully employed to capture the complex relationships among the significant orchestration dimensions identified through the PLS-SEM analysis. An importance–performance map analysis provided useful insights into the relative importance of the components of each orchestration dimension based on their effects on the collaboration performance.

The illusion of choice: Organizational dependency and the neutralization of university sexual assault complaints

AbstractIn response to new regulations, universities have created multiple options for managing sexual misconduct complaints. These options are described as maximizing survivors' autonomy through feminist paradigms of choice. This study uses data from ethnographic observation and 76 interviews with survivors, perpetrators, and administrators to examine whether providing options gave survivors control over their complaints. The findings indicate that survivors found the complicated and vague sexual misconduct policies overwhelming and confusing. As a result, they became dependent on university actors in decision‐making, giving the university more control over survivors' complaints as institutional actors guided survivors to options that required minimal university action.