cradall seminar, march 2010 on embeddedness and engagement: universities in their local environment...

CRADALL SEMINAR, March 2010

On Embeddedness and Engagement:

universities in their local environment

Yann LebeauUniversity of East Anglia

[email protected]

Embeddedness and Engagement

Contexts and meanings of engagement

Citizenship and community cohesion sit high on the political agenda of the UK and the EU. Public engagement as a funding criteria for universities.

Public engagement as a step towards local communities: “brings

research and higher education institutions together with the public”. Sometimes (US) incorporates active citizenship.

Public mission : reconciling local and global aspirations

Community engagement as local business opportunitieshttp://www.usc.edu.au/Community/RegionalEngagement/


The HEART project

Part of the ESRC’s ‘Impact of HEIs on regional

economies’ initiative (9 projects).

One of two focusing on the social/cultural impacts.

4 cases of universities and their local impact on social

disadvantage.

A qualitative approach.


4 stories of “regional” impact and engagement

“world class” in a large urban conurbation: Accidental Regionalism

New university and only show in town: Regional of Necessity

Two universities and a city: Regional embeddedness vs. entanglement

In search of a territorial legitimacy: Making up a region

This presentation is based on illustrations from cases 2 (England) and 3 (Scotland)


Discourses and impacts in contexts : An analytical framework

Structural embeddedness: where a university stands in the local structure of the overall network of relations . Areas include political/policy embeddedness, cultural embeddedness, territorial embeddedness, social embeddedness.

Logic of action: range of decisions and practices (explicit or implicit, external and internal) having a local impact in the above areas. Has to be understood in the quasi market context within which universities operate.


Territorial embeddedness

A set of commonly acknowledged characteristics (Industrial decline, area of severe deprivation, low aspirations, segmented city, etc).

English Case The ‘Only show in town’ in a region of 5 borrows Clarendon University’s intake is predominately local. 2007/08 68% of

students studying part-time. Message of territorial loyalty and exclusivity (visibility through college partnerships)

Scottish Case A coherent agglomeration by geographical, socio-economic and political

standards . Belview Tech’s intake is predominantly local. Largely perceived as local

institution (strong message of territorial loyalty) EactCoast Uni is the main provider of key skills and managerial positions to

local public sector, but low profile engagement. Diverse perceptions of its “territorial loyalty”.


Policy/political embeddedness

English Case Priorities of the region and of the University intersect (e.g.

development of a niche area of excellence in digital media) Regional and local agencies as important sources of finance University provides expertise and strategies to regional plans

Scottish Case Universities have always been involved in regional regeneration plans

(collegiate city strategy). Have reps on local government-led fora, committees and initiatives. Clear strategy to be “seen as doing things locally” ( Belview Tech.) Local policy makers often had past professional links with local

universities (reciprocal assimilation of local elites – East coast Uni ).


Socio-economic embeddedness

English Case Direct impact on the local infrastructure (studentification). Providing opportunities for social mobility locally.

Scottish Case HE and FE students = 16% of the city population .

HE sector = A major local employer.

Belview Tech (local staff and students) more embedded in local relational networks than East Cost Uni.

Both involved in partnerships with local industry and regional development agencies (spin offs, incubators, etc).


Belview Tech & Clarendon : Public Good Institutions?

Strong social embeddedness (key role in local social mobility processes? ).

In partnerships with all regional stakeholders . Public Policy dependency.

A transformative mission : raising aspirations, enlightening, upskilling, “high culture” agenda.

But Limited self funded community engagement activities.


EastCoast Uni: strategic and structural embeddedness

A discourse of engagement with emphasis on trickle down impact.

A strategic positioning in externally funded initiatives. Often perceived as an ivory tower (image of an island). Attracts international students and staff. Has a research impact locally. Can afford self-funded outreach activities. Provides essential skills to local regeneration agenda


In Conclusion

The role of universities in local cultural regeneration and in tackling disadvantage reflects their dependency towards public funding and policy, their positioning within a competitive higher education market, and their level of structural embeddedness within the local socio-economic fabric.

Institutions characterised by diffuse embeddedness tend to find it difficult to translate this longstanding relationship into a strategic discourse on community engagement.

Qualitative research cannot measure impacts in these areas but allows to understand the underpinnings of universities’ actions and their perceptions.


Bibliography

Ball, S. J. and Maroy, C. (2009) 'School's logics of action as mediation and compromise between internal dynamics and external constraints and pressures',Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 39:1, 99 — 112

Bartlett, W. (1993) Quasi-markets and educational reforms. In Quasi-markets and social policy, ed. John le Grand and William Bartlett. London: Macmillan.

Beilke, J. (2005) Realizing the Ideal: The Scholarship of Engagement in Post-Modern Universities, in McMahon, F. & Claes, T. (eds) Probing the boundaries of higher education. Oxford, Interdisciplinary Press.

Bogdanovic, D., Lebeau, Y., and B. Longhurst (2006) The civic role of higher education institutions and their constituencies. Subtheme 3 literature review in Brennan, J. et. al. (2006) Higher education’s effects on disadvantaged groups and communities: 46-54

Brown, R. (2009) The Role of the Market in Higher Education. HEPI Occasional Report 1. http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/publications/hepireport1.pdf (accessed August 2009)

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Higher Education and Regional Transformation (HEART proejct) : http://ewds.strath.ac.uk/impact/CurrentProjects/Highereducationandregionaltransformation.aspx

Moody, J. and White, D.R. (2003) Structural Cohesion and Embeddedness: A Hierarchical Concept of Social Groups. American Sociological Review 68(1): 103=127

van Zanten, A. (2009) 'Competitive arenas and schools' logics of action: a European comparison', Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 39:1, 85 — 98.

cradall seminar, march 2010 on embeddedness and engagement: universities in their local environment...

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