Abstract
The recent establishment of the Irish technological university sector represents an opportunity to carve out the sector’s own unique framework for what constitutes academic impact, despite barriers previously faced in doing so. Following recent research focused on understanding the nature and capture of TU impact from staff and student perspectives, the current research focuses on perspectives from one technological university’s higher-management and external stakeholders, the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), via interactive management. Findings from two interactive management sessions (n= 12 per group) revealed a pathway of impact influence across (1) Funding & Resources, (2) Impact Considerations, (3) Accessibility & Relationship with Service Engagement, (4) Student Influences and (5) Morale & Motivation; and corroborate recent research and signals important considerations for the wider Irish technological university sector. Findings and implications are discussed in light of theory and recent research.
Keywords: academic impact, technological university, interactive management, service engagement impact, teaching-and-learning impact, research impact.
Lay summary
Research at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) identifies different factors that influence the creation of impact in Ireland’s newly established technological university sector. Impact can be considered as the positive influence of academic work (e.g. teaching and learning, knowledge exchange and service engagement) that can be demonstrated in all walks of life. However, to achieve such impact, a variety of factors need consideration. The current research gathered the perspectives of both TUS’s higher-management and external stakeholders to identify and model the influence of such factors. The resulting pathway of influence addresses factors related to funding, service engagement, students, staff engagement, and the nature of impact itself. These results are further discussed in relation to existing research and policy.
