Public Participation in higher Education: The Role of Universities

Purpose: the aim of this paper is to identify the problems of low effectiveness of public participation in higher education on the basis of the analysis of theoretical-methodological and empirical literature.
Methods: this study is based on the institutional paradigm, through the application of the tools of which the main actors with the potential for participation in higher education, roles, opportunities for influence and interests of participants in relation to the system of higher education are identified. The problems of efficiency of interaction between universities and society were identified and characterized in terms of institutional economics.
Results: the directions of organization of social involvement in higher education were defined, the taxonomy of directions of interaction between university and society on the example of Ural State University of Economics was given. Based on the correlation of interests and opportunities for influence, their projection on the potential of interaction between the main stakeholder groups of the higher education system was carried out.
The problems of low efficiency of interaction between society and higher education were revealed. The most important problems include the lack of a system of informal institutions that mediate the participation practices of the population, employers, and civil society institutions in the implementation of higher education programs. There is no consistent formalization of the processes of interaction between society and higher education through state regulation of this sphere. The most widespread problem is the lack of an established mechanism (model) of public involvement in the educational process that has the necessary methodological and instrumental support in the state policy in the sphere of education. The right of the public to participate in education management is not obvious and understandable for individuals.

Сonclusions and Relevance: the potential of studying the sphere of public participation in higher education requires the creation of an independent research program in order to develop areas for improvement and development of institutions mediating the interaction between universities and society.

1. Avtonomov V.S. That's why economists don't like methodologists. Introductory article to the book. Journal of Economic Sociology. 2004; 5(2):140–146. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/oyvgqd (In Russ.)

2. Rubinstein A.Y. To the Theory of Markets of the Sponsored Blessings. RUDN Journal of Economics. 2011; (S5):298–307. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/rbifmb (In Russ.)

3. Reese-Schäfer W. Dewey John: Democracy and Education. In: Arnold H.L. (eds) Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL). J.B. Metzler Stuttgart. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-05728-0_5164-1 (In Eng.)

4. Putnam R.D. Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. Proceedings of the 2000 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work. December 2000. https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990 (In Eng.)

5. Jacob W.J., Sutin S.E., Weidman J.C., Yeager J.I. Community Engagement in Higher Education. Pittsburgh Studies. In: Jacob W.J., Sutin S.E., Weidman J.C., Yeager J.L. (eds). Comparative and International Education. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-007-9_1 (In Eng.)

6. Curwood S.E., Munger F., Mitchell T., Mackeigan M., Farrar A. Building Effective Community-University Partnerships: Are Universities Truly Ready? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. 2011; 17(2):15–26. URL: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ967603 (In Eng.)

7. Pratama R.A., Saputra M.A., Pratiwi I.M., Lestari N.I. Student Teachers’s Readiness to Face Society 5.0 Challenges: Are They Ready to Teach with Competencies Needed? Universitas Lampung International Conference on Social Sciences (ULICoSS 2021). Atlantis Press. 2022; P. 470–476. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220102.061 (In Eng.)

8. Wut T.M., Xu J., Lee S.W., Lee D. University Student Readiness and Its Effect on Intention to Participate in the Flipped Classroom Setting of Hybrid Learning. Education Sciences. 2022; 12(7):442. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070442 (In Eng.)

9. Hofmeyr A.S. Japanese university student responses to intercultural scenarios: Contact strategies and perceptions of otherness. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 2022; (90):73–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.07.008 (In Eng.)

10. Postle G.D., Garlick S. Community engagement and community service: changing perspectives in regional universities? In: Community capacity building: lessons from adult learning in Australia. NIACE, Leicester, United Kingdom, 2014. P. 24–44. URI: http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/26789 (In Eng.)

11. Sormani E., Baaken T., van der Sijde P. What sparks academic engagement with society? A comparison of incentives appealing to motives. Industry and Higher Education. 2022; 36(1):19–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422221994062 (In Eng.)

12. Ballesteros-Rodríguez J.L., De Saá-Pérez P., García-Carbonell N., Martín-Alcázar F., Sánchez-Gardey G. The influence of team members’ motivation and leaders’ behaviour on scientific knowledge sharing in universities. International Review of Administrative Sciences. 2022; 88(2):320–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852320921220 (In Eng.)

13. Orazbayeva B., Plewa C. Academic motivations to engage in university-business cooperation: a fuzzy set analysis. Studies in Higher Education. 2022; 47(3): 486–498. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1761784 (In Eng.)

14. Sandaran S.C. Service learning: Transforming students, communities and universities. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2012; (66):380–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.281 (In Eng.)

15. Sam C., Dahles H. Stakeholder involvement in the higher education sector in Cambodia. Studies in Higher Education. 2017; 42(9):1764–1784. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1124851 (In Eng.)

16. Ha N.T.N. The involvement of industry professionals and barriers to involvement in work-integrated learning: the case of the profession-oriented higher education framework in Vietnam. Journal of Education and Work. 2022; 35(1):92–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2021.2018408 (In Eng.)

17. Hou A.Y.C., Hill C., Justiniano D., Lin A.F.Y., Tasi S. Is employer engagement effective in external quality assurance of higher education? A paradigm shift or QA disruption from quality assurance perspectives in Asia. Higher Education. 2022. P. 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00808-2 (In Eng.)

18. Galeotti G., Daddi D., Oyekunle O., Al-haddad A. Higher Education Employability Programmes and Experiences. 2022; 10(2):107–128. https://doi.org/10.25749/sis.25656 (In Eng.)

19. Malik F. Voluntary and collective employer engagement and agency around the high-skill supply-demand relationship of education & training and VET in England. Journal of Education and Work. 2022; 35(4):390–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2022.2073341 (In Eng.)

20. Zinevich O.V., Balmasova T.A. The "Third Mission" and Social Engagement of Universities: to the Problem Statement. Vlast’ = The Authority. 2015; 23(6):67–72. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/uctlvl (In Russ.)

21. Perfilieva O.V. The University in the Region: Steps towards Third Mission. International Organisations Research Journal. 2011; 6(1):133–144. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/nprrrp (In Russ.)

22. Prokofiev A.V. The Economic Challenge to the University: an Ethical Reflection. Vedomosti prikladnoj etiki = Semestrial papers of applied ethics. 2018; (51):9–31. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/orpjvx (In Russ.)

23. Kolychev V.D., Budanov N.A. Student and Research and Teaching Staff engagement as an Indicator of Corporate Culture assessment and a tool for University’s Personnel reserve formation. Higher Education in Russia. 2022; 31(2):42– 57. https://doi.org/10.31992/0869-3617-2022-31-2-42-57 (In Russ.)

24. Fomina T.P., Razgonayeva D.V. Extracurricular activities of students in modern university: organization, directions and successes. Voprosy pedagogiki = Pedagogical issues. 2022; (4-2):301–306. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/hnqbjw (In Russ.)

25. Tyulicheva L.D. The role of households in maintaining the processes of lifelong learning. In: Education through life: lifelong education for sustainable development. Proceedings of the second stage of the 13th International Conference, Ulan-Ude, September 09-12, 2015 / under scientific. ed. L.N. Ruliene, I.A. Malanova, N.A. Lobanova. Ulan-Ude: Buryat State University, 2016. P. 194–196. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/vpbheb (In Russ.)

26. Klyuev A.V. Political participation: the state and trends of development in modern Russian society. Administrative Consulting. 2005; (2(18)):69–77. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/kubxeb (In Russ.)

27. Prianto A., Qomariyah U.N., Firman F. Does Student Involvement in Practical Learning Strengthen Deeper Learning Competencies? International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research. 2022; 21(2):211–231. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.2.12 (In Eng.)

28. Jiang L. Facilitating EFL students’ civic participation through digital multimodal composing. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 2022; 35(1):102–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2021.1942032 (In Eng.)

29. Lepik K.L. Urmanavičienė А. The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Development of Social Entrepreneurship: The Case of Tallinn University Social Entrepreneurship Study Program, Estonia. In: Păunescu C., Lepik K.L., Spencer N. (eds). Social Innovation in Higher Education. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. 2022. P. 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84044-0_7 (In Eng.)

30. Salamzadeh Y., Sangosanya T.A., Salamzadeh A., Braga V. Entrepreneurial universities and social capital: The moderating role of entrepreneurial intention in the Malaysian context. The International Journal of Management Education. 2022; 20(1):100609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100609