Ambiguity and conflict in the development of 'Third Mission' indicators

This paper borrows analytical tools from the study of public policy, applying them to issues surrounding the development of universities' 'Third Mission' indicators. The 'Third Mission' refers to all activities concerned with the generation, use, application and exploitation of knowledge and other university capabilities outside academic environments. The paper analyses the generation and management of Third Mission indicators as an example of policy implementation. Using the cases of the UK and Spain, it finds a high level of ambiguity in the definition of policy goals accompanied by conflict among policy stakeholders. In these cases, policy analysts have suggested that policy implementation becomes 'symbolic', and depends on the strength of local stakeholder coalitions. We find that the development of Third Mission indicators fits this model, and conclude by discussing the policy implications of this finding