Academic interaction with social partners

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Investigating the contribution of universities to economic and social development A lively debate on the relationship between the university and society in a developing country like South Africa is emerging. Academic Interaction looks at the main results of a research study on university interaction with external social partners. It centres on definitional boundaries around whether engagement requires new forms of knowledge that differ from traditional academic modes and around who is defined as 'the community' at local, regional, national or international levels. There is general agreement that the field is conceptually under-specified and theoretically rather thin. Academic Interaction presents a comprehensive data set stemming from research conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on behalf of the National Research Foundation (NRF). The study aims to present not only an analysis of what exists but also utilises an analytical approach that will encourage future debates to be more empirically informed, contextually grounded and hence conducted in a more rigorous and robust manner. This book will be of interest to higher education scholars across the globe as well as innovation systems scholars and university academics.

Table of contents
List of tables
List of figures
List of boxes
Acknowledgements
Introduction
University interaction with external social partners
The HEQC as driver of a new emphasis on community engagement
The research impetus
The research project
The monograph

1 A conceptual framework for analysing university interaction with external social partners
The role of the university in economic and social development
The South African debate on the universitys role
Extending the framework: from interaction with firms to external social partners

2 Research design and methodology
Selection of the universities
Collaboration and participation
Validity and reliability of the survey instrument
Adaptation and extension of the survey instrument
Overview of the instrument
Data-gathering methodology
Call centre and monitoring of returns
Response rate, representivity and generalisability
Data analysis methodology
Benefits of a collaborative approach

3 Mapping the scale of interaction in the five universities
The majority of academics engage with external partners
The 81% that do engage how?
Conclusion

4 International reputation and local relevance: community engagement as
service at research university 1
A reputation-oriented research university
Formalising community engagement
Community engagement in the practice of academics
Conclusion

5 Connecting academic work to the public good: social responsiveness at research university 2
Social responsiveness and stimulating debate
An advocacy and brokerage approach to promote social responsiveness
Social responsiveness in the practice of academics
Conclusion

6 Community engagement and work-integrated learning: a paradigm shift at the university of technology
Distinctive features of the university of technology
A framework of community engagement and work-integrated learning
Distinct groups of academics interacting in different ways
Conclusion

7 Forging a new academic identity: engagement at a comprehensive university
Distinctive features of the comprehensive university
Distinct groups of academics interacting to different degrees
Differing frequency and intensity of knowledge fields
A variegated pattern of types of relationship and partners
Personal interaction and public research dissemination
Academic outputs and benefits to build institutional reputation
Conclusion

8 A more active development orientation: community engagement at a rural university
A development orientation
What were the main reasons why a small group of academics did not engage with external social partners?
Development-oriented social partners
More intense resource constraints the major obstacle
Development-oriented forms of interaction

Direct knowledge-intensive channels of interaction
A similar pattern of academic outputs and benefits
Conclusion: A more active development-orientation

9 Conclusion: Towards university interaction with external social partners
Mapping patterns of interaction across the higher education system
Mapping concepts in policy and practice
Towards differentiated strategic interventions
Towards a contextually and institutionally specific conceptual framework for engagement and building the national system of innovation
The contribution of universities to social innovation, poverty reduction and socio-economic development
Further research
Further empirical work
Further conceptual work

References

Appendices
Appendix A: Consent form and interview schedule
Appendix B: Chapter 4
Appendix C: Chapter 5
Appendix D: Chapter 6
Appendix E: Chapter 7
Appendix F: Chapter 8

Notes on the authors