The University and Its Boundaries by Cohen Eliel;

Author:Cohen, Eliel;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

The five forms of transaction as boundary-regulating mechanisms

In the second section of this chapter, I shift focus to analyse how each of the five forms of boundary transaction can function as a mechanism through which academia is able to regulate its boundary relations and reinforce or even enhance its position in society. Of course, in reality, there are often multiple forms of boundary transaction operating within the contexts of research and related activity, sometimes simultaneously, with complex implications for academic boundaries, as discussed in the case studies previously. The purpose of this section is therefore to get a better handle on the complex interactions shaping and reshaping academia’s role in society by abstracting each form of boundary transaction and considering it in relative isolation, albeit with the knowledge that the precise way in which any boundary transaction operates will be highly context-dependent. Also, although I show how each mechanism achieves this in slightly different ways and to slightly different extents, I want to stress that these differences are not as important as my broader point. Namely, that all forms of transaction can, and in many cases do, function to reinforce academic boundaries even though, at face value, the fact of crossing boundaries appears to risk undermining and potentially weakening these boundaries.

There are a couple of key indicators that I will look for when highlighting this role for boundary transactions. The first is where boundary transactions provide academics with opportunities to enact their academic identities whilst simultaneously delivering some value to non-academic actors. This serves to reinforce and re-legitimate academia’s boundedness (i.e., its distinctiveness and autonomy) by showing the wider societal value of tolerating and maintaining this boundedness. The second is where boundary transactions, which are, on the face of it, activities primarily oriented towards the third mission of societal benefit and ‘impact’, simultaneously provide academics with opportunities to advance their other core missions of research and teaching/training. This is an indicator of academics exerting control over their boundary transactions and not being pressured towards transactions that are less likely to have any relevance to academia’s traditional core missions.

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