| 1. |
- Bashiri, Farzana, et al.
(författare)
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Conceptualizing Scholar-Activism Through Scholar-Activist Accounts
- 2024. - 1
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter : Collaboration, Engagement, Impact - Collaboration, Engagement, Impact. - 2197-5698 .- 2197-5701. - 9783031487996 - 9783031487989 ; , s. 61-97
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter delves into one of the ways in which scholars strive to make their work matter, namely, through the practice of scholar-activism. It becomes evident that the concept of scholar-activism is multifaceted and lacks a universally established definition. The objective of this chapter is to gain an insider’s understanding of scholar-activism by exploring its conceptualization and intellectual foundations. To achieve this, a conceptual review of literature authored by scholar-activists is conducted, complemented by scientometric analysis of co-wording and co-citation. The findings of this study reveal two key insights. First, the concept of scholar-activism can be viewed as comprising three interconnected components: criticality, active engagement, and normative orientation. These elements inform one another, shaping the overall practice of scholar-activism. Second, the review identifies four primary intellectual influences that underpin scholar-activism: critical geography, feminist thought, popular education, and critical social theory. It becomes apparent that, based on the accounts of scholar-activists in this review, a conceptual reconciliation between scholarship and activism is feasible. Nevertheless, the practical challenges of navigating institutional and contextual barriers to bring about this alignment remain a significant obstacle for scholar-activists, warranting further exploration.
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| 2. |
- Benner, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Will the Center Hold? What Research Centers Do to Universities and to Societal Challenges
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter. - Cham : Springer. - 2197-5698 .- 2197-5701. - 9783031487996 - 9783031487989 ; Part F2013, s. 123-140
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research centers represent a specific organizational format for linking the traditional university organization with external actors, goals, and processes in time-limited, concentrated efforts of research and collaboration. Yet, the center format contains large variations, and centers act as interfaces between university organizations, societal actors, and research funders in multifaceted ways. In this chapter, we focus analytically on the organizational structuration of universities and the influence of external funding on the steering of work modes and orientations of academic research. We ask what centers do, how they affect universities’ operations, and why some centers are more successful than others in their missions. We address these questions through an analysis of six centers within the 10-year Vinn Excellence and Berzelii center schemes run by the Swedish innovation Agency Vinnova, drawing on interviews, evaluation reports, and a broad range of archival data. We highlight great variations in how universities are influenced by center funding, which is most effective when aligned with internal university strategies. Center success depends on the fit and integration of internal and external ambitions, university strategies, and partner orientations. However, such alignment is merely reinforced, rather than altered, by external center support.
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| 3. |
- Jonsson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Engaging in Societal Collaboration Through Reflexivity : Experiences from a Cross-Disciplinary Pilot Course for Faculty
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter : Collaboration, Engagement. Impact - Collaboration, Engagement. Impact. - Cham : Springer. - 2197-5698 .- 2197-5701. - 9783031487996 - 9783031487989 ; , s. 11-32
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is limited understanding of how education initiatives geared toward faculty and support staff can foster a capacity for long-term and integrated societal engagement and collaboration within higher education institutions. Using the experiences from a cross-disciplinary pilot course in Sweden, the current study aims to identify features that explicate how skills and academic rigor for engaging in societal collaboration can be developed toward a “reflexive scholarship of societal collaboration.” Based on a case study of the course, we identify the need for (i) theoretical orientation, (ii) collective reflections among diverse participants, and (iii) application of gained knowledge in real-world contexts. Building on the experiences from the pilot course, we explore and discuss the participants’ reflections on how their partaking in the course may support a reflexive scholarship of societal collaboration. Our study is relevant to managers and policymakers interested in nurturing long-term and integrated collaborations between academia and various societal actors.
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| 4. |
- Mattsson, Pauline, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction: Universities and the Matter of Mattering
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter. - Cham : Springer Nature. - 2197-5701 .- 2197-5698. - 9783031487989 - 9783031487996 ; , s. 1-10
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this introductory chapter, we provide insights into the debates that inspired this volume. Our aim is to extend the boundaries of the concept societal interaction and discuss the conditions for universities to undertake such endeavors. Within this context, we introduce the matter of “mattering” which serves as the central theme that runs through this volume. Mattering, we posit, can be comprehended through three key concepts: collaboration, engagement, and impact. We outline how each concept contributes to an increasing understanding of the manifold ways in which mattering can be grasped and achieved. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the coherent set of individual chapters that, separately or jointly, deal with the three concepts. Through these chapters, this volume aims to make a valuable addition to the evolving literature that explores how universities can expand their impact beyond conventional higher education missions. Collectively, these chapters cover the context of the mattering of universities and draw on various empirical data sources, mainly from Sweden but also internationally. Within this compilation of inquiries, we shed light on the multifaceted impact of universities on societies, exploring the mechanisms, contexts, and temporal dimensions of their contributions to advancing knowledge and addressing societal challenges.
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| 5. |
- Perez Vico, Eugenia, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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How Promotion Guidelines Reflect Swedish Higher Education Institutions’ Societal Collaboration Strategies
- 2024. - 1
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter. - Cham : Springer. - 2197-5701 .- 2197-5698. - 9783031487989 - 9783031487996 ; , s. 99-122
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter explores the alignment between the stated intention of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to matter and the assessment of individuals to matter. To achieve this aim, HEIs collaboration strategies are compared with the criteria for the guidance for merits regarding docentship. Our analysis reveals a notable disparity: the societal collaboration visions outlined in strategies were rarely reflected in promotion guidelines. There is a substantial degree of variability in how these guidelines address collaboration merits. Despite the prevalence of ambitious strategies among HEIs, only a minority align these aspirations with guidelines that encompass the breadth and depth required for effective, high-quality collaboration. © The Author(s) 2024.
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| 6. |
- Perez Vico, Eugenia, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Valorizing the Humanities : Impact Stories, Acting Spaces, and Meandering Knowledge Flows
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter. - Cham : Springer. - 2197-5698 .- 2197-5701. - 9783031487989 - 9783031487996 ; , s. 211-232
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite its proven societal value, humanities knowledge tends to be marginalized in research policy; this has been a topic of debate for some time. In this chapter, we focus on the valorization of humanities knowledge, with the aim of comprehending the way this process engenders societal impact. We argue that historical impact stories offer an effective methodological approach for a deeper understanding of such valorization and its subsequent impact. Drawing on three humanities research cases from Sweden, we propose that valorization and impacts of humanities knowledge should be seen as processual and as influenced by societal actors who determine the premises and condition the somewhat unpredictable nature of such impacts. We introduce two concepts: (i) acting space, which involves access to collaborators, audiences, and channels that enable knowledge valorization, and (ii) meandering knowledge flows, which provides insight into the uneven and hard-to-predict nature of valorization. Through these concepts, we wish to provide a better and more nuanced understanding of how knowledge valorization in the humanities unfolds. By doing so, we hope to support humanities scholars to find ways of articulating their own modes of mattering.
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| 7. |
- Ralfs, Annika
(författare)
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Proximity and Inequality in Academia
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter : Collaboration, Engagement, Impact - Collaboration, Engagement, Impact. - 2197-5698 .- 2197-5701. - 9783031487996 - 9783031487989 ; Part F2013, s. 33-59
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When mattering is defined as being able to disseminate ideas on a global scale, not all universities and researchers matter equally. Along with many other factors, geographical location can be a source of inequality in the science system, which is characterized by a persistent core–semi-periphery–periphery structure. Collaboration between high-, middle-, and low-income countries, frequently enabled by the mobility of individual scientists, is a strategy that researchers pursue in building their scientific capital. The circumstances of and barriers to scientific collaboration between researchers in high-, middle-, and low-income countries can be described drawing on the theoretical concept of proximity in its spatial and non-spatial dimensions. However, as will be argued with this critical narrative review, the concept of proximity can explain how rather than why researchers collaborate in a science system that shows a pronounced concentration of opportunities to build scientific capital in its core regions. Because the proximity literature scarcely touches on aspects of inequality and tends to be limited in its scope to the experiences of higher-income countries, this chapter aims to explore how the concept can be expanded by incorporating findings from research on inequality in global academia. This will provide a more comprehensive approach to understanding international research collaboration.
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| 8. |
- Salö, Linus, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Sources of Policy : Knowledge Brokering in Governmental Reports
- 2024
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Ingår i: Making Universities Matter. - Cham : Springer Nature. - 9783031487989 - 9783031488016 - 9783031487996 ; , s. 185-210
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter explores indirect, text-based knowledge brokering through a study of Swedish governmental reports, known as Statens offentliga utredningar (SOUs). To this end, we endeavor to gauge the impact of knowledge uptake in their sources as displayed in their reference lists. Because SOUs are the outcome of commissions, we seek to position this feature of Swedish policymaking culture as an overlooked yet vital enabling condition for productive science–policy interaction where scholars and their knowledge can matter. However, doing so effectively requires a better understanding of the characteristics of impactful knowledge objects and the dynamics required to make them effective. Our analysis shows that the lion’s share of the references cited in the SOUs studied can be classified as gray literature and are published in Swedish. This suggests that scholars wanting to matter in a policy context may consider other routes besides the predominating genre of the peer-reviewed journal article in an English-language journal. Further implications of these findings are discussed vis-à-vis recent conceptualizations of agency in knowledge brokering as a lens through which to view collaborative impact in the future.
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