The pathways and challenges of university engagement: comparative case studies

The idea of university engagement is not new and indeed goes back at least to 1862 in the United States with the land-grant college. It was, however, the image of the university as ‘ivory tower’ that became dominant after WWII in the global competition among universities for the highest rankings in the amount of research funding and prestige. Universities that focused on local and regional concerns were perceived by many as parochial institutions.
Fortunately, that image has been changing, but many universities are still resistant to strong to commitments to regional engagement for a variety of reasons. We use comparative case studies to explore the differential effects of regional economic environment, external stakeholders, regional political interests, university research strengths, and university leadership on how universities are regionally engaged and how effective they are in their engagement activities.