From Engagement to Impact: Social and Cultural Perspectives on

the Regional Role of Universities

John BrennanCentre for Higher Education Research and

Information, the Open University

The project

Higher Education and Regional Transformation (HEART): social and cultural perspectives

• 4 contrasting universities and their regions• Impacts on disadvantaged groups and

communities• The views of universities and their stakeholders• ‘Discourses’, ‘engagement’ and ‘impact’

The HEART project research team

Project directorsProf John Brennan, Open UniversityProf Allan Cochrane, Open UniversityDr Yann Lebeau, University of East AngliaRuth Williams, Open UniversityResearchersDr Michael Amoah, Open UniversityDr Alice Bennion, Open University

Areas of focus

• Local partnerships to extend participation in higher education to socially disadvantaged groups

• The ‘cultural presence’ of HEIs in disadvantaged communities

• The civic role of HEIs and their constituences

• Local employment opportunities and their constituences

Regions are different…….….in terms of their• geographical location• communications (degree of isolation)• clarity of their boundaries (defining the region)• economic profile• social and ethnic mix• extent of mobility (inward/outward)• extent of population loyalty/identity• image/confidence• stability/change• educational provision

Universities are different….

…..in terms of • ‘who’ their students are, ‘where’ they come from,

‘why’ they come, ‘what’ they experience, where they ‘go’ to

• the university’s ‘embeddedness’ in its region (history and context)

• the ‘balance’ between teaching & research and the regional relevance/focus of both

• ‘rewards’ and ‘incentives’ for staff• extent and nature of ‘partnerships’• extent and nature of ‘institutional change’

Universities and their regions

• Universities interact with their regions in different ways (types of engagement and impact)

• Universities influence what is possible within their regions

• Regions influence what is possible within their universities

Social and cultural perspectives (1)

Connecting the economic with the social/cultural

- Social mobility opportunities are affected by economic developments

- Aspirations may also be affected- But economic developments affected

by ‘aspirations’, ‘confidence’ & ‘identity’

Social and cultural perspectives (2)

Connecting the social/cultural with the economic

- Cultural ‘attractiveness’ may attract inward investment and mobility

- Cultural ‘diversity’ may or may not have economic implications but it can be influenced by HE (inflows and outflows of students and staff)

Social and cultural perspectives (3)

The cultural is important in its own right- Cohesion or segmentation/fragmentation/conflict:

does HE play a role?- Notions of ‘active citizenship’: e.g. student

volunteering, staff on school governing bodies- Notions of ‘university as good neighbour’: e.g.

senior staff serving on key regional agencies- Notions of ‘image’, ‘attractiveness’ and

‘confidence’ of a region

Social and cultural perspectives (4)

The role of the public sector- Role of HEIs in producing labour force

for key public sector agencies (health service, schools, local govt etc)

- Initial training and CPD- Important to current residents but also

in attractiveness of region to inward investors (and individuals)

Forms of engagement

• Direct or indirect• Embedded, strategic of accidental• Core functions or special initiatives• Autonomous or responsive• ‘knowledge’ or ‘spending’ related• Private or public• Closed or open

The case studies: commonalities and differences in terms of……• Universities and economic development (including

significance of regional agendas to university missions and significance of universities to regional agendas)

• Regional and university ‘images’, local and institutional ‘cultures’, the relationships between them and the drivers of change

• Aspirations and opportunities for personal change and social mobility and the role of universities in shaping & facilitating these

• Universities and their support for active citizenship, their contribution to regional leadership and co-ordination of the ‘public good’

• The role of universities in tackling social inequalities & relative disadvantage

Impact: helping the socially disadvantaged• Raising/changing aspirations• Raising attainment levels• Creating new opportunities/routes to access

existing higher education provision• Creating new higher education provision to

meet different needs and aspirations e.g. part-time, continuing professional

development, workplace learning• Confidence raising• General awareness raising

Impact: winners and losers?

• Social mobility and ‘escape’ for the few?

• Implications for the ‘many’?• ‘Our town’ or ‘your town’?• Fragmented or cohesive community?• Generational effects?