One and two equals three? The third mission of higher education institutions

Abstract

In modern, knowledge-based societies, universities play an increasingly important role in achieving economic growth and social progress. Their traditional roles and missions are being broadened as to accommodate activities that facilitate engagement with various stakeholder groups. Universities do not want to be regarded as isolated and separated islands from their surrounding communities and have therefore developed internal mechanisms to bridge their activities with the needs and expectations of external actors. In this paper, we take stock of recent scholarly work and ongoing debates surrounding universities’ third mission (TM). Broadly speaking, TM refers to the changing roles and functions of universities which, despite recent developments, have always been a matter of debate amongst academics and society at large.

Keywords:

• higher education
• third mission
• engagement
• institutionalization
• universities

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the organizers of the 2014 CHER annual conference, Rome, for hosting a special panel on the TM, as well as EJHE's chief editor, Manja Klemenčič, for her kind invitation and valuable advice and support throughout the entire process leading to the publication of this special journal issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rómulo Pinheiro is an Associate Professor in Public Policy and Management at the University of Agder, Norway. He is also senior associate researcher at Agderforskning, and visiting professor at the Universities of Tampere, Finland and Danube Krems, Austria. Rómulo's research interests are located at the intersection of the fields of public policy and administration, organizational studies, regional science and innovation studies and higher education studies.

Patricio V. Langa is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Cape (UWC), South Africa and Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Maputo. He is a visiting research fellow at Danube University Krems in Austria. He is also an adviser to UEM Rector on strategic planning. Since 2011 has been the Executive Director of the HE Quality Council of Mozambique (CNAQ). Patricio is also the President of the Mozambican Sociological Association and founder of an NGO focusing on higher education studies in Mozambique.

Attila Pausits is head of the Centre for Educational Management and Higher Education Development at Danube University Krems in Austria and academic director of the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme ‘Research and Innovation in Higher Education’. Attila is vice-chairman of ‘EAIR – The European Higher Education Society’ and an expert for higher education management and change management. He has participated in numerous international research and developments projects related to the modernization and development of European higher education.

Notes

1. We use the term ‘university’ here in its broader sense, pertaining to all types of higher education institutions, research-intensive or not.

2. Composed in 1990 at an international conference in Talloires, France, this was the first official statement made by university administrators of a commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education. The Talloires Declaration is a 10-point action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach at colleges and universities. It was signed by over 350 university presidents and chancellors in over 40 countries (ULSF 1999).

3. EAs are conceptualized as consisting of the ‘institutional, communicative, co-coordinating and cultural elements of an organisation oriented towards innovation’ (Nelles and Vorley 2008, 10). They consist of five interrelated and overlapping university elements: structures, systems, strategies, leadership and culture.

4. For a comparative analysis (across five continents) of such tensions see Pinheiro, Benneworth, and Jones (2012).

5. Online at: http://www.e3mproject.eu/.