The transformation of university: an assessment of the literature

Abstract

The relation between university and society is an important theme because knowledge production and utilization has become a significant factor in economic and social terms, and because the university is a locus of excellence for knowledge creation. Recently, universities’ transformation thesis have stated that the relationships between universities and society are in a process of change. Universities have gradually abandoned their isolated, ivory-tower, discipline-based knowledge production mode, towards a more open, interactive, multidisciplinary and connected stance that favours applied problem solving. Common critiques to these thesis include the argument that there is a lack of empirical evidence, and point to an excessive generalisation which disregards the specificities of different disciplinary areas. In this research we intend to address these critiques, particularly the critique that points to the lack of empirical evidence, by looking at the literature on the relations between university and society that utilizes the methodology of social network analysis. Social network analysis is the quantitative study of social structure that uses several indicators that can characterize the structural properties of a network. If this methodology is applied to the study of networks that involve connections with universities, it is possible to identify the importance of the university institution in those networks, and as such, to empirically gather evidence as it respects the above mentioned critique. The research methodology is entirely based on literature review. The results show that the academic institution, and the people that is affiliated with those institutions, is highly connected with external entities and has, in several ways, a quite important and even central position in the networks on which it participates. Thus, the analysis seems to provide empirical ground to the universities’ transformation thesis, which has implications in terms of university governance.