Regional engagement and impact of higher education institutions: institutional self-assessments and choice of performance indicators

Many higher education institutions would like to know more about their regional engagement and impact (REI) profile but may find it difficult to map, monitor or measure their REI potential and performance. This paper examines the results of REI-indicator-driven self-assessments reports produced by 30 European HEIs. The 2 survey-based case studies included 20 research-intensive universities and 10 universities of applied sciences (UAS). The study’s main aim is to: (a) to gain evidence-based insights on which REI-indicators are most deemed relevant; (b) offer explanations for their preferences. The analysis of the 30 REI profiles was structured in terms of 3 REI ‘domains’: Education and Human Resources (EHR); Research, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RTIE); Regional Economic Development and Infrastructure (REDI). On average, eight REI indicators were used per self-assessment report. Universities and UAS use different sets of indicators to describe their REI profiles and performance. Qualitative ‘narrative-based’ indicators comprise 75% of all indicators mentioned in the reports, mostly on REI-related organizational inputs. Quantitative metrics-based indicators are more equally spread across inputs, processes and outputs. The largest share of quantitative indicators was found in the EHR domain. These findings may help HEIs to select indicators and develop indicator-based institutional self-assessments for in-house institutional learning on REI performance.