Chosen, trusted and disillusioned – an autoethnographic account of university–society collaboration from an academic's point

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the dynamic and power-laden nature of university–society collaboration from the individual academic's point of view. Design/methodology/approach: This paper applies an autoethnographic approach in following a specific collaboration process through detailed fieldnotes and continuous reflections. Findings: This research presents university–society collaboration as an emergent, volatile and fairly unpredictable process, involving a multitude of actors on both sides. The interactions among actors shape the emerging process and power relationships. The academic's situation could be understood in terms of multiple and shifting subject positions that could be embraced, accepted, resisted or surrendered to by the academic. Practical implications: These findings may help academics with own experiences of collaboration to shed light on their observations. Novice academics, interested in collaborating with society, should be aware of the possibility of tensions and exercise of power in interactions with societal actors. When setting up collaboration agreements, academic and societal actors are advised to openly discuss potential problems and how to handle those. Originality/value: This unique, in-depth testimony of a single collaboration process from the individual academic's point of view uncovers previously unobserved dynamic and political attributes of the process.