Universities and Regional Development: A Critical Assessment of Tensions and Contradictions

by Rómulo Pinheiro (Editor), Paul Benneworth (Editor), Glen A. Jones (Editor)

Overview

Universities are under increasing pressure to help promote socio-economic growth in their local communities. However until now, no systematic, critical attention has been paid to the factors and mechanisms that currently make this process so daunting. In Universities and Regional Development, scholars from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia critically address this knowledge gap, focusing on policy, organization, and the role of individual actors to uncover the challenges facing higher education institutions as they seek to engage with their regions.

In a systematic and comparative manner, this book shows internal and external audiences why, how, and when the institutionalization of universities’ "third missions" should take place, and also:

• challenges conventional wisdom about the role of universities in society and the economy
• demonstrates how institutions in different nations and regions cope with local engagement
• combines the latest national, regional and local research with international perspectives
• integrates diverse conceptual and disciplinary frameworks

Universities and Regional Development is a key resource for researchers and students of higher education and territorial development, educational policy makers, and university managers seeking to engage with the world beyond their university.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415893558
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/07/2012
Series:	International Studies in Higher Education
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rómulo Pinheiro is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Oslo and a senior researcher at AgderResearch/the Center for Advanced Studies in Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS), in Norway

Paul Benneworth is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies at the University of Twente in the Netherlands

Glen A. Jones is the Ontario Research Chair in Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement and Professor of Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Volume PART I: SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 2: Understanding Regions and the Institutionalization of Universities PART II: TENSIONS DERIVED FROM PATH- AND RESOURCE- DEPENDENCIES 3: University Ambiguity and Institutionalization: A Tale of Three Regions 4: National Universities and the Regional Dimension: A Dilemma? 5: Universities, Regional Development and Economic Competitiveness: The Polish Case 6: The Shifting Roles of Moldovan Universities in Regional Development: A Critical Policy Perspective PART III: TENSIONS DERIVED FROM THE ROLE OF DOMINANT PLAYERS/MODELS, LEGITIMACY AND SYMBOLIC COMPLIANCE 7: Excellence, Relevance and the Construction of Regional Science Policy: Science Frictions and Fictions in the North West of England 8: Institutional Specificity and Organizational Change: A Case of University Social Engagement in Brazil 9: Institutional, Regional and Market Identity in Chilean Public Regional Universities 10: Resource Asymmetries and Cumulative Advantages in Regional Knowledge Systems: Exploring a University’s Growth/Share Strategy PART IV: TENSIONS DERIVED FROM STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESSES 11: Scaling Entrepreneurial Architecture: The Challenge of Managing Regional Technology Transfer in Hamburg 12: The Relationship of Regional Engagement to Universities’ Core Purposes: Reflections from Engagement Efforts with Socially Excluded Communities 13: Managing Regional Engagement: The Role of Benchmarking PART V: MAKING SENSE OF THE FINDINGS AND PROPOSING A WAY FORWARD 14: What Next? Steps towards a Re-Categorization of Universities’ Regional Missions