Making Universities Matter: Collaboration, Engagement, Impact (Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management)

✍ Scribed by Pauline Mattsson (editor), Eugenia Perez Vico (editor), Linus Salö (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 235
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In an era of rapid change and increasing societal demands, the role of universities as knowledge producers and catalysts for change has come under scrutiny. This open access book offers a fresh perspective on the significance of universities in society, shedding light on how their knowledge can truly matter beyond academia.

Drawing upon insightful inquiries from both the Swedish and international contexts, this volume delves into the multifaceted interactions between universities and various knowledge users, emphasizing the need for scholars to reflect on how their knowledge can become useful and applicable to wider society.

Organized into three compelling themes, collaboration, engagement, and impact, this book explores the concept of "mattering". Together and jointly, they point at the fluid movement of scholars and scholarly knowledge across academic, political, and public spaces, and the intentional actions of scientists to leverage their expertise for real-worldimpact.

Essential reading for social science and humanities scholars, university management professionals, and individuals keen on a critical understanding of the evolving role of universities, this volume offers a comprehensive examination of how universities have mattered, continue to matter, and can shape the future.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction: Universities and the Matter of Mattering
Making Universities Matter
The Matter of Mattering
Mattering Through Collaboration, Engagement, and Impact
References
Engaging in Societal Collaboration Through Reflexivity: Experiences from a Cross-Disciplinary Pilot Course for Faculty
Introduction
Means for Strengthening a Scholarship of Societal Collaboration Through Reflexivity
Course Content and Outline
Method
Results
Theorizing Collaboration—the Value of Having Access to a “Smorgasbord”
An Opportunity for Reflection and Reflexivity
A Need to Transform Knowledge into Practice
Concluding Discussion: A Need for Space and Engagement
Appendix 1: Interview Guide
References
Proximity and Inequality in Academia
Introduction
Defining Inequality in Academia
Method
Proximity and Inequality in Academia
Geographical Proximity
Cognitive Proximity
Social Proximity
Organizational Proximity
Institutional Proximity
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Conceptualizing Scholar-Activism Through Scholar-Activist Accounts
Introduction
Methodological Reflections
Method of the Study
Data Collection
Defining Features and Concepts
Parallel Concepts
Criticality
Active Engagement
Normative Orientation
Intellectual Influences
Critical Geography
The Feminist Perspective
Popular and Critical Education Influences
Critical Social Theory
Discussion
Scholar-Activism Conceptualized
Scholar-Activism’s Intellectual Roots
Concluding Remarks
Appendix 1
References
How Promotion Guidelines Reflect Swedish Higher Education Institutions’ Societal Collaboration Strategies
Introduction
HEI Strategies and Promotion Guidelines Related to Societal Collaboration
Societal Collaboration Strategies and Promotion
Aspects of Societal Collaboration
Empirical Context—Swedish HEIs, Societal Collaboration, and the Role of Docentship
Methods and Material
Different Types of Societal Collaboration
Analysis
Misalignment Between Strategies, Intentions, and Promotion Guidelines
Variation Regarding the Role of Societal Collaboration Merits in the Guidelines
Few HEIs Meet Explicit Intentions in the Strategy to Work with Collaboration in Merit Processes
Concluding Discussion
References
Will the Center Hold? What Research Centers Do to Universities and to Societal Challenges
Introduction: Centers and Universities
What is a Center?
Centers in Their Settings: Summary Points
Empirics: Six Centers and Their Evolution
The Electronics Center: A Center in a Network
The Biotechnology Center: The Assisted Linear Model as Ideal
The Working Life Center: A Center Without a Center
The Transportation Center: Localized Success
The Vehicle Center: A Moderate Success
The Logistics Center: The Center that Never Was
Conclusions: The Impact of Centers
References
Governing by Organizing: The Context of Universities in Sweden
Introduction
Metagovernance and Governing by Organizing
Governing by Organizing—the Swedish University Sector
Three Major Reforms in the Swedish University Sector
Five Strategies of Governing by Organizing
Storytelling
Creating Formal Organizations
Fostering Competition
Positioning
Distancing
Concluding Remarks
References
Responsive Research Quality Articulations of the Humanities
Introduction: Narratives of Neglect
Co-produced and Responsive Research Quality Articulations
Responsive Research Quality Articulations in the Knowledge Society
Research Quality as a Matter of Disciplinary Expertise
Responsive Evaluations in the Humanities
Experimenting with “Top-Down” Humanities Quality Evaluation
Production Results and Citations for International Comparisons
A Range of Views on the Humanities and Quality
Humanities Quality as Something Particularly Complex
Resources for Quality in National Research Policy
Concluding Discussion
References
Sources of Policy: Knowledge Brokering in Governmental Reports
Introduction: Forms of Impact, Ways of Mattering
The Politics, Uniformation, and Interaction of Knowledge
Successive Regimes of Knowledge Politics
Two Kinds of Scientific Uniformity: Text Types and Languages of Publishing
Nordic Modes of Science–policy Interaction
Key Conceptualizations: Agency in Knowledge Production, Uptake, and Brokering
Methodological Procedure
Findings
Variations in Language Use and Reference Type
Detailed Analysis of Scholarly References
Implications: Mattering Through Agentive Brokering
Final Remarks
Appendix 1. Studied SOUs
References
Valorizing the Humanities: Impact Stories, Acting Spaces, and Meandering Knowledge Flows
Introduction
Objective, Approach, and Organization of the Chapter
Research on Humanities Valorization and Impact—A Brief Review
Three Historical Impact Stories
Case 1: “Cultivated, Simple and Comprehensible”: Plain Language in Sweden
Case 2: Bilingualism Research and the Introduction of Mother Tongue Instruction
Case 3: Allan Etzler and the Demise of Racist Roma Studies
Meandering Knowledge Flows Through Acting Spaces
Meandering Knowledge Flows: The Winding Features of Valorization
Acting Space: Conditions of Value Ascriptions
Concluding Discussion: Humanities Matter
References