Prof. Monica Fedeli
Prof. Monica Fedeli Ph.D. is Professor in Teaching and Learning Methods and Organizational Development at University of Padova. Since 2021 she is Vice Rector for the Third Mission and relations with the Territory.
She has been Adjunct Professor at Boston University, at Michigan State University, at Julius Maximilian University of Wurzburg, Germany, and Visiting Professor at California University Berkeley, School of Education. In 2020 she was Fulbright recipient at University of Georgia in US where she spent 7 months.
- active teaching
- participatory teaching and learning
- faculty development
- university business dialogue
- women leadership
- personal and professional development
- educational coaching and
- Third mission and continuing education
She published more than 150 articles, books, and book chapters in variety of national and international journals, and book series.
CG1: The three pillars of the third mission of higher education systems: “Continuing education”, “technology transfer & innovation” and “social engagement”
Co-Moderator: Dr. Concetta Tino, Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Pejatović
Traditionally the two main missions of Higher Education Systems (HEs) are teaching and research, but after Bologna Process a third pillar has characterised the contribution of universities to society: the third mission or third stream (Molas-Gallart et al., 2002). This enlarged mission highlights the role of universities as source of knowledge and capabilities to promote social and economic development. Therefore, the third mission mirrors the effective functioning of HEs and the level of effectiveness and responsibility in the use of resources.
At the beginning the third mission of universities was considered just as the commercialisation of research, but soon the role of universities has been considered much more than a source for financial and commercial activities, because it was recognised as a process for improving quality of life and public services’ value (Arbo & Benneworth, 2007).
In 2008, Montesinos, Carot, Martinez, and Mora identified three dimensions of third mission:
1. Continuing education: the organisation and management of adult education as service to support change between job, leisure time and education. It can include formal and informal education/training.
2. Technology transfer and innovation: it is related to the exchange of knowledge, that is the use of research to promote innovation, such as spin off activities, contract-based research and consultancy...
3. Social engagement: the collaboration between HEs and their communities (local, regional, national, global) on the basis of a non-profit relationship and mutual beneficial exchange.
The first two dimensions have mainly a profit orientation because universities interact with the society according to an economic perspective. The third dimension mirrors the responsibility and the role of HEs as social services for the communities.
It is important to underline that some universities are stronger in one of the three dimensions, and it is often possible to find activities that belong to different dimensions. This sense, HEs through their Third Mission contribute to the social, economic, technological, and cultural development of communities.
The Triple Helix research, teaching, third mission (entrepreneurial university ideal) (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff 2000) pushed HEs to change their governance structure, and to become ‘more effective, efficient and responsive to societal needs’ (Capano & Pritoni, 2020, p.2).
The relevance of this CGW is to understand the efforts made by the different countries for transforming their governance structure to develop their third mission in its three dimensions. Therefore, the expected learning outcomes of this CGW are related to:
- knowledge about HEs governance
- the exploration of the actions/practices implemented for promoting continuing education, innovation and social engagement
For more information about the comparative group have a look at our programme!
- Fedeli, M., Liotino, M., Taylor, E.W., Araneta, M.G. (2022). Enhancing Learning in Higher Education Using MOOC: The Experience of the University of Padua. In: G. Casalino, M. Cimitile, P. Ducange, N. Padilla Zea, R. Pecori, P. Picerno, & P. Raviolo (Eds.) Higher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online. HELMeTO 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1542. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96060-5_16
- Tino, C. & Fedeli M. (2022). Career planning, proactivity, self-employability, and labour market: undergraduates’ perceptions. Form@re (1) pp.262-278.
- Tino, C., Lavagnolo, C., Fedeli, M., Bierema, L., L. (2022). Women’s career decision making and interest in engineering: a qualitative analysis of influential personal and contextual factors. Andragoška Spoznanja, 1-22.
- Fedeli, M. & Bierema, L. L. (Eds.). (2019). Connecting adult learning and knowledge management. Strategies for learning and change in higher education and organizations. Svizzera: Springer International Publishing.
