1. AUA Annual Conference 2012
Changing communities and
challenging identities: the
impact of the commercial
spinout project on university
staff

2. Introductions
Dr Rachel Birds r.birds@shef.ac.uk
 Head of Biological Services, University of Sheffield
 Formerly Warwick and Northumbria
 AUA Member since 2001, Fellow since 2009,
Council 2008-11, Trustee 2011-2014
 Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice
graduate (PgCert)
 Doctoral student 2007-2012

3. Session outcomes
By the end of the session we will have:
 Considered the external pressures on
universities to seek additional funding streams
 Critiqued the extent to which staff are affected
by the commercialisation agenda
 Shared experiences and good practice around
managing the impact on colleagues
 Collected at least two specific learning points
based on personal experiences across various
institutions (confidentiality assured!)

4. Background
 Professional manager in UK higher education
 Involved in various commercialisation activities
over course of career
 In 2008, joined Board of Directors of a small
university spin-off company in the field of
biotechnology
 Between 2009 and 2011 conducted
ethnographic study as part of EdD programme

5. Tensions

6. My research questions
 How is the commercialisation of HE
experienced by individuals in the context of a
university spinout company?
 How is the individual experience shaped or
influenced?

7. External pressures

8. External pressures, internal
responses
 Concerns about the effects of the neoliberal
environment on the contemporary university
(Olssen & Peters, 2005)
 Concomitant changes to institutional
management; “New Managerialism” (Deem et
al., 2007)
 Changing organisational culture and individual
identity: roles become blurred (Whitchurch,
2008)

9. Discussion
time

10. Emphasis
Changing communities: the
impact of commercialisation
on professional staff in HE

11. The experience of being ‘spun-
out’
 Four areas of significance: Change, Challenge,
Culture and Confusion (The Four Cs)
• Dichotomies
• Distance
 The Significance Matrix: developing a typology
• Illustrates spread of data
• Two axes (actor as lens)
• Social dimension relates to personal proximity,
relationships
• Process dimension reflects opportunities to
contribute to business processes and decision-
making

12. The Significance Matrix
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
SOCIAL

13. The Significance Matrix
P
R
O
C
E
S
S
SOCIAL

14. Shaping the experience
Personal
Environ- histories
mental
factors
Collective
process
Sense-making

15. Discussion
time

16. Examining the experience
3 levels
• Macro
• Meso
• Micro

17. A ‘web of influence’

18. Salient points

19. Discussion
time

20. In your institutions…
Talk to your colleagues
 What experiences of commercialisation do you
have?
 Has this experience changed job roles? How?
 Has this had an impact on
staff identities?
 How can we manage this?

21. Session outcomes
By the end of the session we will have:
 Considered the external pressures on
universities to seek additional funding streams
 Critiqued the extent to which staff are affected
by the commercialisation agenda
 Shared experiences and good practice around
managing the impact on colleagues
 Collected at least two specific learning points
based on personal experiences across various
institutions (confidentiality assured!)

22. What next?
 Make a note of your two learning points!
 (If you’d like) swap contact details with
someone new you’ve met today

23. Thanks for participating
in this session
Questions or
comments?