European University Alliances and Institutional Purpose

Through European University Alliances, many universities have entered collaborations that have the potential to shape the way that they relate to society and understand their institutional purpose. Traditionally, idealist views (universities as committed to production for its own sake) are contrasted with instrumentalist views (seeing the value of universities in their contribution to economic and broader societal goals). Both the EU policy documents and the manifestos of EUAs strongly associate the formation of these alliances with a pivot towards the latter and greater sensitivity towards societal needs (for example, by referencing concepts such as “grand challenges”, “co-creation” or “third mission”). However, at the same time, the alliances create a novel channel for universities to re-negotiate institutional purpose, somewhat removed from the traditional sites (national higher education policies, European research frameworks, discipline-based scholarly self-understanding). This paper aims to understand EUIs as sites of contestation, negotiation and self-discovery about universities' institutional purpose. I draw on previous work understanding EUAs as learning networks where universities can (i) exchange practical know-how, (ii) define institutional strategy; and (iii) engage in moral reflexivity. Moral reflexion occurs when actors re-imagine institutional purpose and material relationship between society and universities. The paper argues that such reflexivity is necessary due to the high demand of various stakeholders for universities to conform to external expectations; especially since traditional appeals to “academic freedom” and “institutional autonomy” are becoming insufficient guiding values for universities in contemporary discourses on higher education policy; requiring a more holistic and self-confident reconceptualisation of their relationship vis-a-vis society.