Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Reconfiguring Knowledge in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Higher Education Dynamics ((HEDY,volume 50))

  • 5652 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter introduces the main themes of the book as well as the two research projects it draws upon. The focus is especially on changes in the conditions under which higher education operates and the practices through which it fulfills its main tasks with respect to the transmission and production of knowledge, that is, education and research. Within this wider frame we take specific interest in how knowledge is rearranged and worked with at different levels in higher education, and what these processes imply for steering actors, academics and students alike.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.

  2. 2.

    Australia. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2010) Australia in the Asian Century. Australian Government White Paper: Government Printer.

  3. 3.

    Within this model Australia is closer to the Canadian and British forms of capitalism than to the more distinct decentral US model.

  4. 4.

    For a more detailed overview of the Norwegian government system, see: https://www.regjeringen.no/en/the-government/the-government-at-work1/id85844/

  5. 5.

    For a more detailed overview of the Australian system of government, see: http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_20_-_The_Australian_system_of_government

  6. 6.

    See: http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/connecting-government/challenge. See also Halligan (2006).

  7. 7.

    For more details about the methodology and specific findings of this project, see Yates et al. (2017).

References

  • Abbott, A. (2002). The disciplines and the future. In S. Brint (Ed.), The future of the city of intellect: The changing American university (pp. 205–230). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Afdal, H. W. (2017). “Research-based” and “profession-oriented” as prominent knowledge discourses in curriculum restructuring of professional programs. Higher Education, 74(3), 401–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baert, P., & Shipman, A. (2005). University under siege? Trust and accountability in the contemporary academy. European Societies, 7(1), 157–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becher, T., & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual inquiry and the cultures of disciplines (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biglan, A. (1973). Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), 204–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, D. (2008). Organising the political coordination of knowledge and innovation policies. Science and Public Policy, 35(4), 227–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brint, S., Cantwell, A., & Hanneman, R. (2008). Two cultures of undergraduate academic engagement. Research in Higher Education, 49, 383–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2001). Universities as dynamic systems of contradictory functions. In J. Muller, N. Cloete, & S. Badat (Eds.), Challenges of globalisation. South African debates with Manuel Castells (pp. 206–224). Maskew Miller Longman: Cape Town.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chou, M.-H., & Gornitzka, Å. (Eds.). (2014). Building the knowledge economy in Europe. New constellations in European research and higher education governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, T., Gornitzka, Å., & Maassen, P. (2014). Global pressures and national cultures: A Nordic university template? In P. Mattei (Ed.), University adaptation at difficult economic times (pp. 30–52). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Colyvas, J., & Powell, W. W. (2006). Roads to institutionalization: The remaking of boundaries between public and private science. Research in Organizational Behavior, 27, 305–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damsa, C. I., & Nerland, M. (2016). Student learning through participation in inquiry activities. Two case studies in teacher and computer engineering education. Vocations and Learning, 9(3), 275–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damsa, C. I., Nerland, M., & Jensen, K. (2017). Enrolment of first-year students in knowledge domains: Unpacking transformative practices in three introductory courses. In E. Kyndt, V. Donche, K. Trigwell, & S. Lindblom-Ylänne (Eds.), Higher education transitions: Theory and research (pp. 270–287). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elsen, M., Visser-Wijnveen, G., van der Rijst, R., & van Driel, J. (2009). How to strengthen the connection between research and teaching in undergraduate university education. Higher Education Quarterly, 63(1), 64–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkovitz, H. (2003). Innovation in innovation: The triple helix of university-industry-government relations. Social Science Information, 42(3), 293–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedland, R., & Alford, R. (1991). Bringing society back in: Symbols, practices and institutional contradictions. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalization in organizational analysis (pp. 232–266). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godin, B. (1998). Writing performative history: The New New Atlantis? Social Studies of Science, 28(3), 465–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, Å., & Maassen, P. (2014). Dynamics of convergence and divergence. Exploring accounts of higher education policy change. In P. Mattei (Ed.), University adaptation at difficult economic times (pp. 13–30). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, R., Raynard, M., Kodeih, F., Micelotta, E., & Lounsbury, M. (2011). Institutional complexity and organizational responses. The Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 317–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, P., McGaw, B., & Care, E. (Eds.). (2012). Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gumport, P. (2000). Academic restructuring: Organizational change and institutional imperatives. Higher Education, 39(1), 43–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. A., & Soskice, D. (Eds.). (2001). Varieties of capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halligan, J. A. (2006). The reassertion of the centre in a first generation NPM system. In T. Christensen & P. Lægreid (Eds.), Autonomy and regulation: Coping with agencies in a modern state (pp. 45–67). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hessels, L. K., & van Lente, H. (2008). Re-thinking new knowledge production: A literature review and a research agenda. Research Policy, 37(4), 740–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, K., & Nerland, M. (2015). Knowledge dynamics in higher education: Examples from law schools in Norway and their shadow arrangements. In I. Langemeyer, M. Fischer, & M. Pfadenhauer (Eds.), Epistemic and learning cultures – Wohin sich Universitäten entwickeln (pp. 46–60). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, K., Nerland, M., & Enqvist-Jensen, C. (2015). Enrolment of newcomers in expert cultures: An analysis of epistemic practices in a legal education introductory course. Higher Education, 70(5), 867–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J. (2009). The three cultures: Natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities in the 21st century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, J. T. (1996). Crossing boundaries, knowledge, disciplinarities, interdisciplinarities. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knorr Cetina, K. (1999). Epistemic cultures: How the sciences make knowledge. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knorr Cetina, K. (2007). Culture in global knowledge societies: Knowledge cultures and epistemic cultures. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 32(4), 361–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knorr Cetina, K., & Reichmann, W. (2015). Professional epistemic cultures. In I. Langemeyer, M. Fischer, & M. Pfadenhauer (Eds.), Epistemic and learning cultures. Wohin sich universitäten entwiklen (pp. 18–33). Beltz Juventa: Weinheim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krücken, G., & Meier, F. (2006). Turning the university into an organizational actor. In G. S. Drori, J. Meyer, & H. Hwang (Eds.), Globalization and organization (pp. 241–247). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyvik, S., Vågan, A., Prøitz, T. S., & Aamodt, P. O. (2014). Research-based education in undergraduate professional programmes. In J. C. Smeby & M. Suthpen (Eds.), From vocational to professional education (pp. 105–123). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamont, M. (2009). How professors think. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, P., & Petrulis, R. (2012). How do first-year university students experience inquiry and research, and what are the implications for the practice of inquiry-based learning? Studies in Higher Education, 37(1), 85–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. (2014). A new social contract for higher education? In G. Goastellec & F. Picard (Eds.), Higher education in societies. A multi scale perspective (pp. 33–51). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. (2017). The University’s governance paradox. Higher Education Quarterly, 71(3), 290–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P., & Olsen, J. P. (Eds.). (2007). University dynamics and European integration. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1989). Rediscovering institutions. The organizational basis of politics. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (2006). Elaborating the “new institutionalism”. In R. A. W. Rhodes, S. Binder, & B. Rockman (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of political institutions (pp. 3–20). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markauskaite, L., & Goodyear, P. (2017). Epistemic fluency and professional education. Innovation, knowledgeable action and actionable knowledge. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W. (2000). Globalization: Sources and effects on National States and societies. International Sociology, 15(2), 233–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W., Ramirez, F. O., Frank, D. J., & Schofer, E. (2007). Higher education as an institution. In P. J. Gumport (Ed.), Sociology of higher education. Contributions and their contexts (pp. 187–221). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minelli, E., Rebora, G., Turri, M., & Huisman, J. (2006). The impact of research and teaching evaluation in universities: Comparing an Italian and a Dutch case. Quality in Higher Education, 12(2), 109–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, J. (2009). Forms of knowledge and curriculum coherence. Journal of Education & Work, 22(3), 205–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerland, M., & Jensen, K. (2014). Changing cultures of knowledge and professional learning. In S. Billett, C. Harteis, & H. Gruber (Eds.), International handbook of research in professional and practice-based learning (pp. 611–640). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nespor, J. (1994). Knowledge in motion. Space, time and curriculum in undergraduate physics and management. London: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M., & Sen, A. (2010). The quality of life. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2005). Definition and selection of competencies executive summary. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisa/35070367.pdf.

  • Olsen, J. P. (2007). The institutional dynamics of the European university. In P. Maassen & J. P. Olsen (Eds.), University dynamics and European integration (pp. 25–55). Springer: Dordrecht.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, J. P. (2008). The ups and downs of bureaucratic organization. Annual Review of Political Science, 11, 13–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, J. (2016). Shifts in German internationalization: A new space for academic capitalism. In S. Slaughter & B. Taylor (Eds.), Higher education stratification, and workforce development: Competitive advantage in Europe, the US, and Canada (pp. 235–251). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, M. A. (2007). Knowledge economy, development and the future of higher education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, B. G. (2015). Pursuing horizontal management: The politics of public sector coordination. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, W. W., & Snellman, K. (2004). The knowledge economy. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 199–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Power, M. (2003). Evaluating the audit explosion. Law & Policy, 25(3), 185–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, V. (2010). Taking ideas and discourse seriously: Explaining change through discursive institutionalism as the fourth ‘new institutionalism’. European Political Science Review, 2(1), 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spronken-Smith, R., Mirosa, R., & Darrou, M. (2014). ‘Learning is an endless journey for anyone’: Undergraduate awareness, experiences and perceptions of the research culture in a research-intensive university. Higher Education Research & Development, 33(2), 355–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes, D. E. (1997). Pasteur’s quadrant – Basic science and technological innovation. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, P., Ocasio, W., & Lounsbury, M. (2012). The institutional logics perspective. A new approach to culture, structure, and process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Townley, B. (1997). The institutional logic of performance appraisal. Organization Studies, 18(2), 261–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townley, B. (2002). The role of competing rationalities in institutional change. Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 163–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N., Wuetherick, B., & Healey, M. (2008). International perspectives on student awareness, experiences and perceptions of research: Implications for academic developers in implementing research-based teaching and learning. International Journal for Academic Development, 13(3), 199–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woelert, P., & Millar, V. (2013). The ‘paradox of interdisciplinarity’ in Australian research governance. Higher Education, 66(6), 755–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yates, L., Woelert, P., Millar, V., & O’Connor, K. (2017). Knowledge at the crossroads? Physics and history in the changing world of schools and universities. Singapore: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, M. (2008). Bringing knowledge back in: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. London: Collier MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zietsma, C., & Lawrence, T. B. (2010). Institutional work in the transformation of an organizational field: The interplay of boundary work and practice work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(2), 189–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Monika Nerland & Peter Maassen

  2. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Lyn Yates

Authors
  1. Monika Nerland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lyn Yates
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Maassen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monika Nerland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Peter Maassen

  2. Department of Education Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Monika Nerland

  3. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Lyn Yates

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nerland, M., Yates, L., Maassen, P. (2018). Introduction. In: Maassen, P., Nerland, M., Yates, L. (eds) Reconfiguring Knowledge in Higher Education. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72832-2_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72832-2_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72831-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72832-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation