Third-Mission
What is University’s Third-Mission? It refers to an additional function of the universities in the context of knowledge society. The university is not only responsible for qualifying the human capital (Education – the first mission) and for producing new knowledge (Research – the second mission).
Universities must engage with societal needs and market demands by linking the university’s activity with its own socio-economic context. Today universities develop their strategies around these three missions.
The Third-Mission can be divided into two main areas: the economic enhancement of knowledge and cultural and social activity.
1. Economic enhancement of knowledge - fostering economic growth, through the transformation of knowledge produced by research into knowledge useful for production purposes:
- the management of intellectual property (patents)
- business creation (spin-off)
- third-party research, in particular deriving from research-industry relations
- the management of intermediation and support structures, generally on a territorial scale (placement and technology transfer activities).
2. Cultural and social activity - producing public goods that increase the well-being of society:
- cultural content (events and cultural heritage, management of museum poles, archaeological excavations, scientific dissemination, musical activities)
- social content (public health, activities for the benefit of the community, technical / professional consultations provided in teams)
- educational content (adult education, life long learning, continuous training)
- civil content (debates and public disputes, scientific expertise)
TIMELINE OF EMERGING UNIVERSITIES’ FOUR-MISSION MODEL |
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Mission | ||||
First | Second | Third | Fourth | |
Mission focus | Education | Research | Economic |
Sustainability |
Triggering event |
Expansion of Catholic Church |
Humboldtian reform | Knowledge economy |
Sustainability crisis |
Timeline | 1150-1170 | 1810 | 1980 | 2010-on |
Source: Arthur Rubens, Francesca Spigarelli, Alessio Cavicchi, Chiara Rinaldi, (2017) "Universities’ third mission and the entrepreneurial university and the challenges they bring to higher education institutions", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 11
HEIs challenges to the third mission
Focus | Example activities | Challenges/Barriers |
---|---|---|
Economic development
Community: non commercial |
Technology Transfer Spin-Offs Consulting Internships Service learning Community-based training |
Faculty attitudes toward third mission Skepticism toward academic commercialization Attitudes toward value of arts/humanities degree Overriding focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and degrees Faculty assessment process and lack of focus on external service activities Decreased funding to universities to support primary mission Rising role (financially and organizationally) of administrators Limited support and resources to third mission activities Mission drift and ethical and conflict of interest issues Conflicts and expectations by the community Not meeting perceived or real expectations of community |
Source: Arthur Rubens, Francesca Spigarelli, Alessio Cavicchi, Chiara Rinaldi, (2017) "Universities’ third mission and the entrepreneurial university and the challenges they bring to higher education institutions", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 11
Recommendations to improve the implementation of the university third mission
THIRD MISSION |
RECOMMENDATIONS |
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Source: Arthur Rubens, Francesca Spigarelli, Alessio Cavicchi, Chiara Rinaldi, (2017) "Universities’ third mission and the entrepreneurial university and the challenges they bring to higher education institutions", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 11