2)Martin, Ben R. "Are Universities And University Research Under Threat? Towards An Evolutionary Model Of University Speciation." Cambridge Journal Of Economics 36.3 (n.d.): 543.
3) The article is about the changing role of universities. The author talks about two missions of universities, teaching and research. He argues that there is now a third mission, that of contributing to the economy and industry. This third mission was not well received by all. Two perspectives arose from the introduction of the third mission, the pessimistic and the optimistic thesis. The pessimists argue that the third mission is intrusive and universities should not have to adopt it, that is, they should be free from outside pressure and stick to their original missions. The optimistic approach argues that the universities should change as do the demands of the society. It argues for a university that cooperates with the industry and society in closer manner. It argues that universities have the opportunity to become engines of the knowledge economy, eventually fueled by private capital. The author goes in depth to compare the two and analyze them. He even starts from the foundation of medieval universities and tries to explain the previous changes faced by universities.
4)Ben R. Martin is a professor of science and technology studies at Sussex University, UK.
5) The author gives two different perspectives on the recent changes in universities and their missions.
The Pessimistic Thesis : The University and basic research (or the scientific commons” are under threat by the new missions imposed on universities by the changing economic dynamics.
The Optimistic Thesis : Universities have the opportunity to become ‘entrepreneurial universities’, taking on the role of the ‘engine’ of the knowledge economy.
6)“Universities are conventionally seen as having two missions –teaching and research. Over recent decades, however, they have been expected to give greater emphasis to a ‘third mission’ –that of contributing to industry, the economy, the local region or society more generally” (Martin, 543).
The traditional mission of the university, knowledge for its own sake, makes universities immune to the pressures of society or economic for that matter. As institutions with a higher purpose (that of learning and teaching), universities have been the equivalent of the Catholic Church of medieval Europe, transcending the realities and hardships of the time. This traditional status quo, however, is about to change thanks to the economic and social pressures put on the universities. Possessing the know-how required to train skilled workers and conduct research better than any other type of institution, universities are expected to add another mission to their goal sheet, that of contributing to worldly matters, such as economics and industry.
“In their view the university is about the provision of a ‘liberal education’ and the pursuit of ‘knowledge for its own sake’, both of these conducted under conditions of ‘academic autonomy’. For them, the introduction of the third mission represents something that is new, intrusive and potentially threatening” (Martin, 544).
The author talks about the pessimistic thesis. It argues that pressures on the universities to contribute more to the economy, industry and their local regions is the invasion of university space. According to the thesis, this ‘third mission’ is nothing more than the corruption of the concept of traditional university. Its proponents believe universities should be protected from such demands and stick to their original missions of teaching and research in a fully autonomous environment.
“The roots of the medieval university phenomenon were formed in utilitarian soil. Europe’s earliest universities were institutional responses to the need to harness the expanding intellectual forces of the eleventh and twelfth centuries to the ecclesiastical, governmental and professional
requirements of society” (Martin,548).
Even though the pessimistic thesis dubs the ‘third mission’ intrusive, Martin argues that this mission was there since the foundation of universities. In medieval times, he notes, universities were expected to contribute to their society. While it is true that universities were utilized to provide trained professionals, their main purpose have been teaching and research. Even so, the pessimistic thesis doesn’t argue for a university to be completely isolated from the society but it promotes autonomous universities that are independent from outside pressure, universities that are autonomous in their policies.
7) This article is useful for my research because it talks about the two different perspectives on the evolution of universities and their missions. He also talks about the early history of universities, which is helpful in deciphering the evolutionary history of modern university.
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