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<p>Social innovation is not a new term; its sociological heritage can be dated back to the late nineteenth century. However, the academic literature regarding the concept of social innovation only emerged from the 1980s onwards and went on to develop multiple meanings that do not readily cohere around an analytically applicable conceptual or theoretical framework. As an innovation process, social innovation is a knowledge-based activity, and, therefore, there is growing interest in understanding the role of universities in that process – fundamental sources of knowledge in contemporary society. This paper aims to map and categorize the existing scientific literature devoted to the role played by universities in the social innovation process. As such, a scoping review method was employed to conduct the literature review, taking into account the connection between social innovation and the universities’ missions, and proposing a future research agenda. The findings demonstrate the extent to which this theme is emerging in the featured literature. It was found that a theoretically-based approach, with the application of qualitative methods, has been favoured in this field of research. Furthermore, a number of investigations have approached examples of social innovation within the university context, but few explore how universities contribute to the different phases of the social innovation process. The major insight from this study is that a deeper understanding of how the university contributes to the different phases of the social innovation process is needed to improve the transfer of knowledge to society at large, and to further foster social change and social development.</p>

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What does the literature tell us about the engagement of universities in social innovation?

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年9月1日

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  • Jorge Cunha,
  • Carla Ferreira,
  • Madalena Araújo,
  • Paul Benneworth

摘要

Social innovation is not a new term; its sociological heritage can be dated back to the late nineteenth century. However, the academic literature regarding the concept of social innovation only emerged from the 1980s onwards and went on to develop multiple meanings that do not readily cohere around an analytically applicable conceptual or theoretical framework. As an innovation process, social innovation is a knowledge-based activity, and, therefore, there is growing interest in understanding the role of universities in that process – fundamental sources of knowledge in contemporary society. This paper aims to map and categorize the existing scientific literature devoted to the role played by universities in the social innovation process. As such, a scoping review method was employed to conduct the literature review, taking into account the connection between social innovation and the universities’ missions, and proposing a future research agenda. The findings demonstrate the extent to which this theme is emerging in the featured literature. It was found that a theoretically-based approach, with the application of qualitative methods, has been favoured in this field of research. Furthermore, a number of investigations have approached examples of social innovation within the university context, but few explore how universities contribute to the different phases of the social innovation process. The major insight from this study is that a deeper understanding of how the university contributes to the different phases of the social innovation process is needed to improve the transfer of knowledge to society at large, and to further foster social change and social development.