Enablers and impact of social innovation in higher education institutes: a futuristic perspective

Abstract

Purpose

Social innovation is a nascent field. Within research on social innovation, the context of higher education has largely been ignored. To better understand social innovation, it is important to explore factors that facilitate social innovation in universities’ context. There is little research on enablers of social innovation in universities and the impacts of social innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the enablers of social innovation in the Saudi Arabian context. Moreover, the impacts of social innovation projects are also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was used to carry out this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and content analysis was performed.

Findings

Data revealed that institutional commitment, mission, active collaborations, curriculum, support, training, community university engagement offices, university social impact offices and reward and evaluation were among critical enablers. The impact of social innovation in terms of social, institutional, economic and community specific was also reported.

Originality/value

Research on the enablers and outcomes of social innovation in the higher education context is limited. This study adds to the innovation literature by investigating what processes and factors (enablers) can help universities to engage in social innovation initiatives and what are the outcomes (impact) of engaging in social innovation. Findings of the study have important policy implications.

Citation

Afsar, B. and AlGhazali, B.M. (2023), "Enablers and impact of social innovation in higher education institutes: a futuristic perspective", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-06-2023-0208