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Journal ArticleDOI

Exploring fields of ambiguity in the sustainability transition of universities

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a framework that systematically captures the ambiguity of different understandings about science, the university and its relation to society, while conceptualizing sustainability, which can be applied to assess the degree of maturity of a sustainable university.
Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that systematically captures the ambiguity of different understandings about science, the university and its relation to society, while conceptualising sustainability. Following Corley and Gioia (2004, p. 174) on identity ambiguity and change, it seems pivotal to better understanding the ambiguity of sustainability in relation to academic cultures and university models to manage the transition more effectively. Design/methodology/approach The nature of this paper’s objectives as well as the wide thematic scope leads to the need of exploring a broad knowledge base. This was best addressed by an exploratory literature review with data collection from primary and secondary sources. The data was interpreted through a hermeneutic analysis and resulted in the inductive development of first categories and goals (further referred to as category development). In addition, a multi-method approach further adjusted the categories and raised their empirical validity and social robustness. Findings Implementing sustainability involves dealing with a double bound ambiguity due to organisational and individual identity reasons. Five fields of ambiguity were developed to systemise the conceptualisation of a sustainable university along contradictory understandings of science, the university and sustainability. These fields offer a framework to qualitatively assess the degree of sustainability in higher education institutions. Arguments for and against sustainability in universities have been categorised around five criteria and associated to the fields of ambiguity. The finding indicates that meaning in organisational change management for sustainability can be considered both, a potential driver and barrier for a sustainability transition in universities. Research limitations/implications This paper exclusively focussed on the internal perspective and left aside any external factors that influence the sustainability transition, such as political measures to stimulate sustainability in higher education. In addition, the operational dimension of a sustainable university has been neglected, which is by all means a necessary and important aspect. The interrelation of the identified goals has not been discussed. Originality/value This paper focusses on the conceptualisation and understanding of sustainability within the institution, an often-forgotten but fundamental aspect of implementation. The fields of ambiguity are designed to be applied for assessing the “degree of maturity” of a sustainable university. The fields reveal the different understandings about the role, the mission and the governance of universities, stemming from competing preferences about goals and their assumed relations by various stakeholders of a higher education institutions. The five fields are not an attempt to resolve the hidden contradictions and tensions in a sustainability transition, but to state them clearly to anticipate resistances and conflicts that hinder the development of a shared understanding.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
John Fien1
TL;DR: Planet U: Sustaining the world, Reinventing the university, by Michael M'Gonigle and Justine Starke as discussed by the authors, was published in 2006.
Abstract: Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University, by Michael M'Gonigle and Justine Starke. Gabriola Island, New Society Publishers, 2006

41 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how academic leaders make sense of and give sense to ambiguous fields of meaning in conceptualizing a sustainable university, and identified three aggregated dimensions that form the change context of the transition: (1) discourse strategies applied to make and giving sense, (2) triggers of resistance and (3) determinants of a collective sensemaking process.

28 citations

01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role of universities as engines of economic growth and sub-national economic and social development in the context of higher education, and examine the implications for the global university order, including issues of stratification and diversification.
Abstract: A economia politica internacional do ensino superior e caracterizada por uma crescente globalizacao e regionalizacao de actividades. Neste âmbito, e notoria a enfase colocada no papel das universidades como motores de desenvolvimento economico e social. No entanto, o cariz descontextualizado das pressoes globais neoliberais coloca as universidades um conjunto de problemas, tornando necessaria a consideracao de um missing middle entre os contextos de producao de conhecimento e os contextos da sua aplicacao. O presente artigo explora estas questoes num contexto comparativo, recorrendo a trabalho empirico sobre as politicas regionais de ciencia na Europa. O artigo esta organizado em tres seccoes. Em primeiro lugar, examina as pressoes globais que estao a levar a uma reconsideracao e a uma mudanca de escala da ciencia. Em segundo lugar, analisa os discursos em transformacao sobre excelencia, relevância e politica de ciencia e, ao faze-lo, identifica uma convergencia entre os modelos nacionais de politica de ciencia. Em terceiro lugar, examina as implicacoes que daqui decorrem para a ordem universitaria global, incluindo as questoes da estratificacao e da diversificacao e a tensao resultante entre as expectativas em torno do ensino superior e a capacidade deste para as concretizar. E este missing middle que necessita de reconsideracao, se se pretender que expectativas e capacidade de resposta estejam razoavelmente equilibradas no sentido da obtencao de um maior beneficio. The international political economy for higher education is marked by an increasing globalization and regionalization of activities. In this context, an emphasis on the roles of universities as engines of economic growth and sub-national economic and social development can be seen. However, the decontextualised nature of dominant neo-liberal global pressures gives rise to particular sets of issues for universities and a “missing middle” between contexts of knowledge production and application. This article explores these issues in comparative context, drawing on empirical work undertaken on regional science policies in Europe. It is structured in three sections. First, it examines the global pressures that are leading to a rethinking and rescaling of science. Second, it analyses changing discourses around excellence, relevance and context and in so doing identifies a convergence in models of national science policy. Third, it examines the implications for the global university order, including issues of stratification and diversification and a resulting tension that emerges between the expectations of higher education and their capacities to deliver. It is this missing middle that needs consideration if expectations and capacity are to be more realistically matched for greater benefit.

25 citations

01 Jan 2019

8 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an explicit computer simulation model of a garbage can decision process is presented, with the general implications of such a model described in terms of five major measures on the process.
Abstract: Organized anarchies are organizations characterized by problematic preferences, unclear technology, and fluid participation. Recent studies of universities, a familiar form of organized anarchy, suggest that such organizations can be viewed for some purposes as collections of choices looking for problems, issues and feelings looking for decision situations in which they might be aired, solutions looking for issues to which they might be an answer, and decision makers looking for work. These ideas are translated into an explicit computer simulation model of a garbage can decision process. The general implications of such a model are described in terms of five major measures on the process. Possible applications of the model to more narrow predictions are illustrated by an examination of the model's predictions with respect to the effect of adversity on university decision making.

6,870 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Weick as discussed by the authors argued that the concept of loose coupling incorporates a surprising number of disparate observations about organizations, suggests novel functions, creates stubborn problems for methodologists, and generates intriguing questions for scholars.
Abstract: Karl E. Weick In contrast to the prevailing image that elements in organizations are coupled through dense, tight linkages, it is proposed that elements are often tied together frequently and loosely. Using educational organizations as a case in point, it is argued that the concept of loose coupling incorporates a surprising number of disparate observations about organizations, suggests novel functions, creates stubborn problems for methodologists, and generates intriguing questions for scholars. Sample studies of loose coupling are suggested and research priorities are posed to foster cumulative work with this concept.1

6,410 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts, and the authors suggest that university research may function increasingly as a locus in the "laboratory" of knowledge-intensive network transitions.

5,324 citations

01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts, where the institutional layer can be considered as the retention mechanism of a developing system.
Abstract: Abstract The Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts. Communications and negotiations between institutional partners generate an overlay that increasingly reorganizes the underlying arrangements. The institutional layer can be considered as the retention mechanism of a developing system. For example, the national organization of the system of innovation has historically been important in determining competition. Reorganizations across industrial sectors and nation states, however, are induced by new technologies (biotechnology, ICT). The consequent transformations can be analyzed in terms of (neo-)evolutionary mechanisms. University research may function increasingly as a locus in the “laboratory” of such knowledge-intensive network transitions.

5,036 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The position that the concept of sensemaking fills important gaps in organizational theory is taken, by pinpointing central features of sense making that have been assumed but not made explicit, some of which have changed in significance over time, and some ofWhich have been missing all along or have gone awry.
Abstract: Sensemaking involves turning circumstances into a situation that is comprehended explicitly in words and that serves as a springboard into action. In this paper we take the position that the concept of sensemaking fills important gaps in organizational theory. The seemingly transient nature of sensemaking belies its central role in the determination of human behavior, whether people are acting in formal organizations or elsewhere. Sensemaking is central because it is the primary site where meanings materialize that inform and constrain identity and action. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the concept of sensemaking. We do so by pinpointing central features of sensemaking, some of which have been explicated but neglected, some of which have been assumed but not made explicit, some of which have changed in significance over time, and some of which have been missing all along or have gone awry. We sense joint enthusiasm to restate sensemaking in ways that make it more future oriented, more action oriented, more macro, more closely tied to organizing, meshed more boldly with identity, more visible, more behaviorally defined, less sedentary and backward looking, more infused with emotion and with issues of sensegiving and persuasion. These key enhancements provide a foundation upon which to build future studies that can strengthen the sensemaking perspective.

4,894 citations