Knowledge Matters: The Public Mission of the Research University

Universities Are Changing Around The World. In China and Africa there is massive expansion, while many of America's greatest public universities are experiencing major budget cuts. In Latin America universities have been affected by dictatorships and privatization but are now growing in ways central to economic development. In Europe universities built as state institutions are being told to raise more money from private sources and are being reorganized so they will compete better in global rankings. In this context clarity about the public mission of universities is vital, yet it is lacking both outside and inside academia.

When universities educate students, is this simply a private benefit because it advances their careers? Or is it a public good because informed citizens are integral to democracy and essential for national economic development? How important is equal opportunity? What are the effects of hierarchy? Who pays now and who will pay tomorrow? Should the results of academic research be private property for sale or openly available for public use? Who sets the university research agendas? What kinds of scholarship flourish and what kinds suffer? Should producing competitive research take priority over educating competent students? Do international rankings distort these and other university priorities or provide needed objective assessments? What are the university's roles and responsibilities in terms of knowledge creation and dissemination today? And tomorrow?

In this collection, scholars report from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America. They confront the realities and challenges of higher education as it is torn between multiple public and private agendas. This comparative perspective illuminates both the continuing importance of the university's public mission and the pressing need to clarify it.

Diana Rhoten is the founder and director of the Knowledge Institutions Program and the Digital Media and Learning Project at the Social Science Research Council. She has published in a range of academic journals and advises cultural, scientific, and educational institutions on issues of organizational design, creative collaboration, and adaptive change.

Craig Calhoun is president of the Social Science Research Council and University Professor of the Social Sciences at New York University. He has served in a variety of academic leadership positions, including as a dean, and has conducted research in many international settings. His most recent book is an edited collection, Robert K Merton: Sociology of Science and Sociology as Science (Columbia).