Higher Education Outreach: Examining Key Challenges for Academics
Authors
Johnson, MatthewDanvers, Emily
Hinton-Smith, Tamsin
Atkinson, Kate
Bowden, Gareth
Foster, John
Garner, Kristina
Garrud, Paul
Greaves, Sarah
Harris, Patricia
Hejmadi, Momna
Hill, David
Hughes, Gwen
Jackson, Louise
O’Sullivan, Angela
ÓTuama, Séamus
Perez Brown, Pilar
Philipson, Pete
Ravenscroft, Simon
Rhys, Mirain
Ritchie, Tom
Talbot, Jon
Walker, David
Watson, Jon
Williams, Myfanwy
Williams, Sharon
Affiliation
Lancaster University; University of Sussex; Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance; University of East Anglia; University of Nottingham; University of Bath; University of Portsmouth; De Montfort University; University College Cork, National University of Ireland; Northumbria University; University of Cambridge; Cardiff University; University of Kent; University of Chester; Newcastle University; University of Brighton; Second Thoughts Philosophical Enquiry; Coventry UniversityPublication Date
2019-02-04
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
How should academic staff engage in outreach with communities outside of the university? The need of academics to answer this question has intensified in the UK given the changing priorities of academic job roles, shaped by increasing institutional concern for widening participation, graduate employability and research impact in an era of austerity and high tuition fees. While university outreach professionals, such as those in widening participation, have access to a range of networks, resources and support mechanisms for outreach activity, academics often face a series of profession-specific pressures that make engagement in outreach complex and contingent. This article draws upon the experience of 25 academics from 18 different subject areas and 18 institutions to examine and provide responses to key challenges faced by academics involved in outreach in the UK. We examine such issues as: the conceptualisation of outreach; funding; recognition and management of workload; nurturing relationships with internal and external partners; capacity-building; commercial interests, payment and responsibility; pedagogical style and content; integration of outreach into curricula, and evaluation of programmes. The examination offered is not all encompassing, but acts as a series of reference points to consider the challenges faced by UK academics in an evolving outreach sector.Citation
Johnson, M., Danvers, E., Hinton-Smith, T., Atkinson, K., Bowden, G., Foster, J., Garner, K., Garrud, P., Greaves, S., Harris, P., Hejmadi, M., Hill, D., Hughes, G., Jackson, L., O’Sullivan, A., ÓTuama, S., Perez Brown, P., Philipson, P., Ravenscroft, S. ... Williams, S. (2019). Higher education outreach: Examining key challenges for academics. British Journal of Educational Studies, 67(4), 469-491. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2019.1572101Publisher
Taylor & FrancisAdditional Links
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071005.2019.1572101Type
ArticleDescription
This article is not available on ChesterRepISSN
0007-1005EISSN
1467-8527ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/00071005.2019.1572101