Social Impact and Forms of Interaction between University Research and Society

in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Terhi EskoHEINE seminar 29.5.2012

• Article ”Social Impact and Forms of Interaction between University Research and Society in the Humanities and Social Sciences” will be published in International Journal of Contemporary Sociology– discusses the interaction between university

research and society and examines various forms and means of that interaction

– considers the impact of university research in the humanities and social sciences

• Three case studies in the fields of – 1) Finno-Ugric and Baltic-Finnish languages, – 2) multidisciplinary urban studies and – 3) research on learning difficulties

• The cases are discussed in relation to innovation policy, innovation research and the third mission activities of universities

Background• The role of universities has been debated in terms

of– Changing science systems – Modes of knowledge production– Changing contract between science and society

(Gibbons et al. 1994, Martin 2003)

• University research is expected to enhance university-industry cooperation and commercialization of research results -> re-emergence of the so-called third mission

Innovation research and the National Innovation System (NIS) Approach

• Changes in the relationship between universities and industry since 1980s – Globalization of national economies– The Bayh-Dole Act in the United States: boosting university-

industry cooperation, technology transfer and patenting in universities

– governments in many countries have been eager to emulate the Bayh-Dole Act (OECD promoted this model)

• During the 1990s and 2000s innovation policy emerged as a new holistic horizontal policy approach partly replacing the previous science, technology and industrial policies

• The OECD policy programs contributed to the rapid distribution of NIS policy framework in the 1990s (e.g., Fagerberg and Verspagen 2009)

Critique• The national innovation systems approach represents “an

economistic worldview“: companies are seen as the most important actors of national systems (Godin 2009)

• Institutions contributing to science, technology, education and social well-being are primarily defined from the viewpoint of how they foster economic growth and enhance the competitiveness of nations and businesses

• The third mission is conceived as the ability of university research to develop commercial products

• Strict patenting regimes may hamper the production of scientific knowledge by means of limiting access to and further development of research results (Nelson 2001)

Methodology, Research Questions and Data

• Four methodological premises– the specificity and partial autonomy of scientific work

and institutions from other societal activities– the disunity of science– the development of science-society interaction can be

studied by focusing on how researchers select and define their research problems and objects

– in order to understand the evolving forms of collaboration between university researchers and societal actors, the nature of joint projects has to be analyzed

Research questions

• What societal developments and problems have the studied research areas chosen as research objects?

• What are the specific, local forms of interaction between researchers and societal stakeholders in studied cases?

• What kind of impacts have the studied researchers had on societal questions?

Data

• Interviews with different stakeholders (N=18)• Documentary material (scientific publications,

reports, theses, administrative documents, web pages and news in the media)

• Particular interests in the cases– Language nests (Finno-Ugric languages)– Peltosaari project (urban studies)– Internet-based learning environment in Niilo Mäki

Institute (research on learning difficulties)

Revitalization of Minority Languages in Finnish Lapland and Russian Karelia

• Research in the Finno-Ugric and Baltic-Finnish languages has a history of nearly two hundred years– the Russian government and the Russian Academy of

Sciences sought to increase knowledge about the empire for various societal purposes

– the research on Finno-Ugric and Baltic-Finnish languages laid the ground for the Finnish nationalism (nation building)

• The downside of nation building was, however, linguistic and cultural unification -> endangering of minority languages

Language nests• Kindergartens for pre-school children who have little or no

language proficiency in the minority language • The establishment of language nests and transfer of related

know-how from the University of Helsinki to indigenous cultures living in Finnish Lapland (Inari) and Russian Karelia (Uhtua)

• The role of activists and societies was important in establishing these activities

• In Lapland, language nests were successful: language nests in Lapland elicited the use of the Inari Sámi language with children of native Finnish speakers

• The results of Karelian language nests in Russia were not equally successful: too many children in the language nest, teaching was organized around formal Russian speaking curriculum

Societal developments

Forms and means of interaction

Societal impact

Extinction of small languages and the resultant cultural impoverishment

Traditional ones:-scientific exploration and correspondent networks-training and education of academics and other professionals-exchange of literature-publications, museum collections-associations (e.g., the Finno-Ugric Society) New ones:-national action program (the Kindred Peoples Program)-language nests

- successful revitalization of the Inari Sámi language

- institutionalization of the Inari Sami language in the Finnish educational system

- Karelian language nests in Russia were less effective and their impacts remained mild

Urban studies

• The development of urban studies has a close relationship to industrialization and the urbanization of European and North American societies from the late nineteenth century onwards

• In Finland, the large-scale industrialization and urbanization process took place later than in most European countries, only after the Second World War

• Urban studies institutionalized relatively late into the Finnish university system: the establishment of nine professorships in urban studies in two major universities of the country, the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University of Technology

Reformation of the Problem Suburb in the City of Riihimäki

• Peltosaari is a suburb with high concentration of rental apartments and social problems in the area

• Two professors and their students got involved with the development of the Peltosaari district through the initiative of researchers from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland– Peltosaari project, a forceful effort to improve the area through

a joint effort by VTT, Riihimäki, the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA) and the University of Helsinki

– The research course incorporated latest international scientific discussions into their approach

– Resulted in a report written by the professors and students

Impact: Expertise in Urban Problems and Contribution to Urban Development

• From the point of view of Riihimäki, the report was a unique account of the state of things in Peltosaari and formed one of the starting points in the further development of the area

• the report substantiated the urgent need for a wider societal perspective in the planning and renewal of urban suburbs, in addition to the usual technical and economic viewpoint

• The practical outcome of such consideration in the Peltosaari case was, at least for the time being, the radical renewal of the area through a development competition, which ended in 2011 -> a general plan is being developed in 2012

• Another outcome from the research course was the development of students’ understanding of urban problems and ways of solving them as well as their increased skills of conducting research

Societal developments

Forms and means of interaction

Societal impact

Concentration of social problems in urban suburbs

Traditional ones:-training and education-publications-joint organizations (e.g., advisory board for urban studies) New ones:-joint professorships-research course for students (the Peltosaari project) with a report and seminars-think-tanks and consultancies

- a wider societal perspective in the planning and renewal of urban suburbs

- development of the students’ knowhow related to urban studies and urban development

- contribution to the renovation plan of the Peltosaari area, that was implemented in 2011 -> a general plan is being developed at the moment (2012)

The Problem of Learning Difficulties in a Knowledge Society

• three generations of concepts of learning difficulties in Finland:– from the early twentieth century until the 1960s learning

difficulties were defined in psycho-medical terms (abnormality or handicap )

– During the 1970s the “principle of overcoming the learning difficulties” as a pedagogical ideology and organizing principle of the comprehensive school inspired by educational equality

– learning capabilities and skills, and the issue of overcoming learning difficulties has become a focal point for social, labor and even innovation policies of our age

• Several organizations contribute to the solving of learning difficulties in Finland such as vocational and civic associations, special education teacher training institutions, the Finnish National Board of Education, municipalities and small firms specialized in providing diagnostic tests and teaching materials

• Two university research units are instrumental in proving new knowledge, diagnostic and screening tools as well as learning materials for the special education system: Niilo Mäki Institute (NMI) and the Centre for Learning Research of the University of Turku

• NMI has a child research clinic (direct help for children), it develops diagnostic and screening tests as well as learning materials and games and provides a learning environment and information service for professionals in the field

Graphogame (Ekapeli)• Graphogame was at first developed for research purposes to

observe the basics of the reading acquisition process -> it became popular once it was distributed freely via internet and now helps children in learning how to read

• The basis for the game were the findings of longitudinal study of dyslexia

• Several language versions have been developed for research purposes in other collaboration projects

• Grapho Learning Intiative launched in 2011 by University of Jyväskylä and Niilo Mäki Institute. It aims to assist millions of children to learn to read in their local language with the help of technology and knowhow of the most well informed experts of reading acquisition in the world (http://grapholearning.info/)

Societal developments

Forms and means of interaction

Societal impact

Learning difficulties as a challenge for universal education, equality and knowledge-society development

Traditional ones:-consultation-co-development of diagnostic tools-research clinic for children-learning materials, guides and textbooks -further education for professionals-expertise in special education policy making New ones:-LukiMat Internet-environment-Graphogame-developmental co-operation with Kenya and Zambia

- providing means for the Finnish special policy and professional practice based on early recognition of learning difficulties and immediate intervention

- remedying individual learning difficulties in reading, writing and mathematics

- exceptionally low percentage of weak readers in PISA tests

Conclusion• All the case examples are connected to large changes

in Finnish society– Finno-Ugric languages: nation building, linguistic and

cultural unification of Finland-> diminishing of minority languages

– Urban studies: changing patterns of life in modern suburbs and social problems caused by urbanization and modernization, social polarization in the Helsinki metropolitan area

– Learning difficulties: a cultural phenomena connected to the rise of comprehensive education system; learning difficulties as an issue of labor and social policies

• All the disciplines studied here evolved in connection with these important societal developments that affected their respective research topics– Access to material and research data (e.g. the role

of Soviet Union in Finno-Ugric languages, computer applications in learning difficulties)

– Developing new methods of research

Forms and means of interaction

• Traditional:– training and educating professionals, publishing in

books and journals, providing consultation and expertise and developing tools for better understanding certain phenomena

• New:– more recent, discipline-specific new ways of doing

things, such as Internet-based learning environments and games, joint professorships, participative courses and language nests

Societal impacts

• Learning difficulties:– Graphogame (Ekapeli) was at first developed for

research purposes but it became a remedial tool for early childhood education

– combines the results of a longitudinal study of dyslexia and computer programming

– Freely distributed through internet: in contrast with the traditional innovation policy approach where social impacts come from patenting and commercialization

• Urban studies: – Scientific research combined with urban

development and university education– Increased the students’ skills in combining theory

and practice, and conducting societally useful research

– Research course focused on the societal problems of housing and provided a larger viewpoint on the development and renewal of urban suburbs in Finland

• Finno-Ugric languages: – revitalization movement of minority languages

gave rise to new forms of activities such as language nests

– the revival of the Inari Sámi language and the institutionalization of the language use in the formal education system in Finland -> enhancing democracy and the rights of people to use their mother tongue

Discussion

• Societal impact of research in the humanities and social sciences can be seen in historical processes (long time span)

• The same activity of creating societal outcomes may work or fail depending on the surrounding societal context (language nests)

• The impacts of the studied cases could not have been discovered by using indicators developed for the measurement of the third mission and societal impact of university research

• The present indicators are still too fixed on commercialization of research results and the economic outcomes of research investments

• Societal engagement is recognized as an important dimension of university activities but it is measured quantitatively as budgetary assignments on outreach activities or numbers of events open to general public (Final Report of Delphi Study 2011, p. 28).

• The majority of the indicators are thus designed to provide a basis for distributing funding to universities

• Difficulties lie in defining adequate indicators and understanding how dissemination of research results actually happens

• Whereas some aspects of societal impacts are clearly measurable, like the number of people speaking a minority language, most of the outcomes e.g. from the research on Finno-Ugric languages can be realized only indirectly and after several years or even decades

• Numeric indicators alone are an incomplete way of understanding the various contributions university research has on society.

Next steps

Re-defining the research questions:1) How the changing societal developments and problems are

reflected on how research objects are formed?

2) Does the widely used division between basic and applied science help in the analysis on the forms of interaction between science and society?

3) What are the forms and means of interaction in different disciplines? What are the new emerging forms of that interaction? Does ICT play a role in them?

4) How should the societal impact and the third mission be understood? Are there alternatives to indicators of impact?

• Theoretical considerations:– Scientific practice (Schatzki et al 2001)– Scientific practice is much more diverse and locally contingent

than it was once assumed to be (Fujimura 1995, 5)– The idea of continuous change in practice and in producing

knowledge: Knorr-Cetina’s (2001) idea of knowledge-centered constructive and creative practice as a relational rather than a performative idiom

– Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT): Contradiction as a catalyst for change, mediation and constructing a shared object

– The role of culture, community and collective in forming the research objective (the role of stakeholders)

Article II• The division between basic and applied science

– How are the phenomena subject to research thematized, how have the methods of a particular research field developed, what is the contribution to scientific discussion, and what kind of practical outcomes (such as political conclusions) each field of research has had

– A more in-depth look at research on learning difficulties– Two cases: Niilo Mäki Institute in Jyväskylä and Centre for

learning research in Turku -> provides a picture at the national level

– Focus on the motives of research, forms of interaction and historical development as well as the dissemination of research results to the field

– Data: interviews

Article III

• Third mission, universities activities and the policy level– What kind of developments and procedures have

taken place in the univerisities concerning the third mission?

– Changes in policy, e.g. University law 2004 etc. – A comparison of at least two universities (of which

University of Jyväskylä would be one)– Data: policy documents and interviews

Article IV – still ”under construction”

• Possibly a new case– The Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and

Human Rights• The role of the humanities and social sciences:

different disciplines have different relationship concerning the third mission

• Should the third mission be understood from within: the self-reflection of different disciplines -> how they define their role and goal in the society?