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Global, National and Local? The Multilayered Spatial Ties of Universities to Society

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RE-BECOMING UNIVERSITIES?

Abstract

In this chapter, we analyse the spatial ties of universities to society on the basis of institutional profiles and two comparative case studies of German universities. While institutional profiles, which provide snapshots of institutional realities, depict our two universities clearly as dichotomous globally and regionally oriented, the comparative case studies reveal that this juxtaposition is blurred in the perception of university members, particularly university leaders. Universities are organizations that sustain different layers of spatial orientation – local/regional, national and global. Even in an age of globalization and pervasive global interconnectedness, in which the international dimension of university research is emphasized more than ever, the local and regional grounding of universities remains warranted by their so-called third mission and the exigencies of teaching. Therefore, the spatial ties of universities are best described as a shell model of spatial interactions. A focal dominant horizon of a university’s institutional profile coexists with spatial orientations on variegated levels within the organization.

This paper presents results from the Project Change in Networks, Higher Education and Knowledge Societies funded by the German Research Council (DFG; DFG-refence nr TE 95/3-1, Oct 2009-Oct 2012). We thank Silvana Lombardi, Michael Borggräfe and Jesus Pineda for their help with the profiles and case studies, and David Hoffman, and Jussi Välimaa for their valuable comments

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Notes

  1. 1.

    But such equality has always been more fiction than fact, and as Teichler has noted, beneath this legal institutional differentiation, a diversification through types of institutions “was constantly ‘on the move’ and ‘never stable’” (Teichler 2010, 159). And despite the overall makeup of the system configuration differences both vertical (differences in quality, basically research quality) and horizontal dimension (differences in disciplinary profiles) were present in the German system. Typically the vertical dimension has been more emphasized and attributes related to the horizontal dimension (international vs. regional) have been interpreted vertically and the attribute internationality has been seen as more reputable then the attribute regionality (Teichler 2005).

  2. 2.

    The name of the university has been replaced in all quotes by “the University”. All quotes in German have been translated into English by the authors.

  3. 3.

    As Blau (1994) and Becher and Trowler (2001) have argued, it is beneficial for small universities when they hire professors who cover a wide spectrum of topics, because this attracts Master students, and having a lot of Master students is again attractive for professors.

  4. 4.

    The Excellence Initiative is a billion Euro funding program by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in cooperation with the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR) for German universities, which has started with a budget of 1.9 billion € in 2005 (for the funding period 2007–2012) and has been prolonged from 2012 to 2017 with an increased funding volume of 2,7 billion €. The initiative is trying to establish internationally visible research beacons in Germany (BMBF-Excellence Initiative). Therefore, its main goals are to support to top-level research, to improve international visibility and competitiveness, creating outstanding conditions for young scientists, intensifying scientific competition and promoting equal opportunities for men and women. Excellence Initiative has three funding lines: graduate schools for promoting young researchers, clusters of excellence for supporting top-level research and institutional strategies for advancing institutional innovations and has become a very important source for research funding for German universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Center for Higher Education Research, Kassel University, Mönchebergstraße 19, 34125, Kassel, Germany

    Anna Kosmützky

  2. Johnson and Wales University, 8 Abbott Park Pl, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Amy Ewen

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  1. Anna Kosmützky
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Correspondence to Anna Kosmützky .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Institute for Educat. Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    David M. Hoffman

  2. Finnish Institute for Educat. Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jussi Välimaa

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Kosmützky, A., Ewen, A. (2016). Global, National and Local? The Multilayered Spatial Ties of Universities to Society. In: Hoffman, D., Välimaa, J. (eds) RE-BECOMING UNIVERSITIES?. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7369-0_9

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