Current Trends in Evolving Specialization in UK Universities

TL;DR

This paper analyzes UK university financial data from 2010-2011 to reveal a divergence in specialization, highlighting a polarity between research-focused institutions with bioscience income and teaching-oriented universities with economic sector roles.

Contribution

It uncovers a new pattern of specialization divergence in UK universities, emphasizing the roles of bioscience research and economic sector niches.

Findings

Research universities focus on bioscience income.

Teaching-oriented universities serve economic sectors.

A clear polarity in specialization roles exists.

Abstract

There are very significant changes taking place in the university sector and in related higher education institutes in many parts of the world. In this work we look at financial data from 2010 and 2011 from the UK higher education sector. Situating ourselves to begin with in the context of teaching versus research in universities, we look at the data in order to explore the new divergence between the broad agendas of teaching and research in universities. The innovation agenda has become at least equal to the research and teaching objectives of universities. From the financial data, published in the Times Higher Education weekly newspaper, we explore the interesting contrast, and very opposite orientations, in specialization of universities in the UK. We find a polarity in specialism that goes considerably beyond the usual one of research-led elite versus more teaching-oriented new universities. Instead we point to the role of medical/bioscience research income in the former, and economic and business sectoral niche player roles in the latter.