University education, research, and social impact

The effect of university community engagement initiatives in light of a qualitative empirical study in Hungary

Abstract

Conventional university education and research processes often face the charge that (1) they do not contribute to the solution of global environmental and social problems and (2) marginalized/voiceless/powerless social groups do not benefit from them. One potential solution to such criticism is the practical application of the university community engagement (UCE) concept and related activities that connect universities with their environment via the goals and values of social justice and sustainability. Within the present study, I examine whether UCE is actually able to contribute to social and/or environmental goals and whether it indeed offers an answer to the aforementioned charges against conventional educational and research processes, according to the evaluation of UCE participants. Besides utilizing related academic literature, findings are based on the results of a qualitative empirical study carried out in Hungary. Results show that UCE activities are characterised by diverse (even though often uncertain and potentially contradictory) social impacts and the scale of these impacts is negligible compared to the scale of the problems UCE aims to solve. Furthermore, upscaling UCE activities and their impacts seem to be a complex challenge where there is no easy (clear-cut) way forward.