Journals
2026 EN
Wang Qingfang · Kim Noah · Thrush Beth Claassen
+1 more
Higher education institutions play a crucial role in shaping regional economic landscapes, yet minority-serving institutions (MSIs) face distinct spatial and institutional constraints in fostering entrepreneurship within historically underserved communities. This study situates the MSI experience within the geography of higher education and regional development, examining how MSIs develop and implement strategies that align institutional missions with regional needs to support place-based economic development. Using a case study of the University of California, Riverside (UCR), a Hispanic-serving institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, this research draws on extensive document analysis and in-depth interviews with university stakeholders and entrepreneurship partners. Findings show that UCR has adopted a mission-driven, geographically embedded approach to entrepreneurship that emphasizes ecosystem building, equity-centered programming, and regional responsiveness. Despite limited capital and infrastructure, UCR has positioned itself as an anchor institution advancing spatially inclusive forms of economic development. The study contributes to geographic debates on uneven development and the role of universities in place-based innovation, arguing that MSIs can act as ecosystem builders in disadvantaged regions by linking entrepreneurship, equity, and regional transformation.
Journals
2026 EN
Tsuda Emi · Elliott Eloise · Lilly Christa
+2 more
In alignment with the land-grant mission and to combat the health disparities in the state, the Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities (CARDIAC) Project was established in 1998 at West Virginia University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARDIAC Project developed the WV Healthy Kids program, consisting of interactive learning modules and survey tools designed to engage children in assessing their own health behaviors while delivering educational content on nutrition, physical activity, and overall health. The purpose of this article is to discuss how members of the CARDIAC Project upheld the land-grant mission during the pandemic through the development and delivery of the WV Healthy Kids program and to present an evaluation of its outcomes. Overall, the program reached 1,190 fifth-grade students from 25 of 55 West Virginia counties. The program was also well accepted and perceived as a useful resource that could contribute to educating children about health and well-being in schools.
Journals
2026 EN
Ingstrup Mads Bruun · Korsgaard Steffen · Hansen Teis
This paper examines local climate missions using paradox theory. We explore how the fundamental paradoxical nature of missions manifests in dilemmas with which mission managers must strategically engage. By studying two local climate missions in Denmark, we identified three dilemmas, their triggers and the mission management’s strategic responses. Importantly, we found that mission resources and place-based leadership are essential in shaping strategic responses to local mission dilemmas. Our findings highlight that paradox theory and its operationalisation are useful for understanding and managing missions as they allow us to better comprehend the potentials and challenges involved in mission work.
Journals
2026 EN
Kalliomäki Helka · Hämäläinen Helmi · Kalliokoski Johanna
+1 more
The mission-oriented innovation policy literature has recently attempted to address implementation challenges and identified research needs around the role of cities, scales and agency in implementation. We address these gaps and contribute to the literature, particularly on the spatial governance of mission-oriented innovation policies, through an integrated theoretical framework conceptualising missions as relational scales of agency. A case study of the mobility as a service (MaaS) concept in Finland enables us to identify and discuss scalar tensions related to MaaS failures. We conceptualise those as leverage points for transformative change that underscore the potential of urban policies in integrated transformative mission implementation.
Journals
2026 EN
Henderson Dylan · Morgan Kevin
Mission-oriented innovation policy is often framed in aspatial terms, with limited attention to the politics of place. This paper examines how place-based missions are constituted through the case of universal free school meals in Scotland and Wales. We show that ideological traditions become entangled across socio-economic and territorial dimensions, that political parties broker coalitions and navigate responses to place-based challenges, and that elections provide mandates that may legitimise commitments while mitigating risks of polarisation. By situating these processes within multilevel fiscal and ideological constraints, we contribute to emerging debates on the geographies and politics of mission-oriented innovation policy.
Journals
2026 EN
Binder Amy · Kidder Jeffrey L. · Cooper Zosia
Building from theories of academic and organizational change, we examine the multi-disciplinary study of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at colleges and universities in the United States. PPE advocates frame their curricular innovations as positive contributions to the mission of their schools. However, other members of their campus communities sometimes mobilize counter-frames to undermine the purported benefits of PPE programs. These episodic disputes mostly hinge on opponents’ concern that the American approach to PPE is libertarian in nature, especially as it relates to academic funding from donors motivated by ideological support for right-of-center political causes. At a time when ideological diversity in the academy is the stuff of daily headlines, our analysis of PPE dynamics reveals how a contested terrain of meaning is shaped by advocates’ and detractors’ selective efforts to de-couple or re-couple pedagogy with vaunted ideals of higher education.
Journals
2026 EN
Im Junyon · Sun Sunny Li
This study explores how social ventures, particularly microfinance institutions (MFIs), respond to performance challenges through problemistic search and increased risk-taking in their mission to alleviate poverty. Using performance feedback theory, we predict that MFIs carry out problemistic search and increase risk-taking when their financial performance negatively deviates from an aspiration level. We explore boundary conditions and suggest that both nonprofit identity and institutional governance influence the relationship between negative performance feedback and risk-taking. Empirical analyses of 718 MFIs across 81 countries between 2004 and 2010 largely support our hypotheses. We find that MFIs increase risk-taking when their financial performance falls below an aspiration level. We also find that nonprofit identity strengthens this relationship, while institutional governance mitigates it. These findings offer valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers, supporting strategic decision-making by social ventures to contribute to a better world.
Journals
2026 EN
Duan Fengjun · Wang Guanjun
The nonlinear exponential-dispersion (ED) process is a type of generalized stochastic process, including the Wiener, gamma and inverse Gaussian (IG) processes as special cases. The optimal experimental design is conducted for a generalized step-stress accelerated degradation test (SSADT) based on the nonlinear ED process. The degradation paths of products under different stress levels are linked through the cumulative exposure (CE) model. The model parameters are estimated using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method. The Fisher information matrix, which is essential to the objective function of the generalized optimal experimental design problem, is derived and calculated. The optimal design variables such as sample size, measurement frequency, and the number of measurements at each stress level are obtained by minimizing the standard deviation of the estimated reliability of products at a predetermined mission time under the cost and boundary constraints. Furthermore, the arrangement of stress levels for the SSADT experiment is also addressed. Finally, an illustrative example is used to validate the proposed models and methods. This study extends previous research findings on Wiener, gamma and IG processes.
Journals
2026 EN
Taha Mohamed Hassan · Abdalla Mohamed Elhassan · Cameron Erin
+4 more
Social accountability (SA) has become a key principle for health professions education, urging institutions to align their actions with the health priorities of the populations they serve. Despite its importance, many schools struggle to implement SA effectively, often due to fragmented leadership development and a lack of institutional frameworks. This AMEE Guide positions leadership as a strategic, system-wide driver of social accountability. Drawing on global case studies, established leadership models, and institutional evidence, it explains how leaders can translate SA from mission statements into measurable outcomes. The Guide introduces the SA values and links them to leadership practices. It offers practical recommendations across three levels: individual competencies, institutional mechanisms, and systemic enablers. The Guide highlights leadership models and demonstrates their application through detailed examples from institutions worldwide. By integrating leadership theory with practical strategies, the Guide provides a pathway for academic leaders to embed SA into their institutions’ core practices through inclusive governance, responsive curricula, community partnerships, impact-driven research, and ongoing cultural change. It equips educators, deans, faculty developers, and policymakers with the tools needed to foster leaders capable of transforming medical and health professions education into a force for equity and social good
Journals
2026 EN
Petras Tomáš · Woollard Robert · Pitama Suzanne
+5 more
This article explores the evolving landscape of social accountability in medical education through the lens of the AMEE ASPIRE-to-Excellence initiative. Social accountability has become increasingly recognized as a fundamental principle in health professional education, requiring health professional education and training programs to align their teaching, research, and service activities with the priority health concerns, namely those of the communities they serve. Drawing on the ASPIRE Social Accountability criteria, this paper outlines how these elements function not only as assessment tools but as building blocks for embedding social accountability into curricula and institutional missions. Essential elements include mission-driven leadership and governance, community co-design, equitable student recruitment, socially responsive curricula, community-engaged research, contribution to health services, impact measurement, and continuous quality improvement. The paper illustrates this through examples of excellence in different contexts and identifies key challenges and strategies for expanding social accountability in health professional education and training programs. The discussion emphasizes that social accountability is a dynamic, context-sensitive endeavor grounded in authentic partnerships, continuous quality improvement, and an inclusive approach to health, equity and diversity. The conclusion highlights the call to action: to embrace these criteria as living elements that can guide institutions in fostering socially accountable, environmentally sustainable, and technologically responsive health professionals.