Universities in external knowledge networks: Particular roles for particular universities?

Abstract

The paper addresses the key issue within the special track "One size does not fit all": are there distinct ways that different kinds of universities interact with their environments at local, regional and national levels? In this paper, we begin from the critique in the call for papers to this track of what is termed a simplistic model of the universities' regional enhancement role. The session seeks to explore how universities (or different tertiary level/higher education institutions) relate with other organizations in their environment in particular ways, depending on the characteristics of both the regions and the universities. In this paper, we seek to contribute to these debates by addressing the research question of whether there are distinct profiles of different kinds of higher education institutions that can be observed in terms of how academic employees in universities interact with external organizations in their environments and who they interact with.