5. Why does public engagement matter?

One of our key roles at the NCCPE is to gather evidence about the importance and impact of public engagement.  See our research section to find out more.  There are sophisticated tools and arguments being developed, but there are some simple measures too. 

Ewart Wooldridge, chief executive of the HE Leadership Foundation, and a firm believer in the strategic importance of engagement, uses a very simple test:

"This may be anecdotal, but I call it my taxi driver test.  I have visited a huge number of universities in the last few years and I always ask the taxi driver when I travel from the station to the university, what do people who live in this city think of the university? 

What concerns me most is that despite the high level of participation in higher education, people don't understand what goes on in universities.  Too often the taxi driver may say: 'a rather strange lot in there, I don't really understand what they do. I'm not sure they're value for money.  I think they are all boffins. I don't think they are actually interested in our city'.  I think that the challenge is opening up universities so that the people who live around them have a much greater sense of what happens there and a great sense of ownership of the university."

Having consulted widely, we've identified three key arguments for why public engagement matters:

The 'moral' case

HEIs are accountable to the public for the funding they receive.  Like any 'big business' they have a civic responsibility to serve the communities around them.  The discoveries they make can have profound impacts on society, so there is a duty to involve the public in discussions about the direction of research and the appropriate ways to apply these discoveries.

The 'business' case

The Research Councils and funders of higher education expect HEIs to embrace public engagement and to demonstrate how they are delivering social impact.  Through their engagement activities HEIs can generate additional income, enhance their reputation, motivate their staff and students, contribute to their professional development, improve the quality of their teaching and research, and improve the recruitment and retention of staff and students.  Public engagement also helps ensure that young people are attracted to research-based and academic careers.

The 'academic' case

Evaluation and research demonstrates that through their engagement activity HEIs contribute positively to society by generating social capital, building knowledge, inspiring learning, empowering individuals, influencing policy and helping to generate prosperity and enhanced services.  They also increase the relevance, impact, legitimacy and reputation of their research.

Viewpoints

We have asked for people across the sector to tell us why they think public engagement matters. You can read their viewpoints here.