HEI As A Pressure Cooker

Title: HEI as a pressure cooker: crafting the secret sauce to social justice in social innovation

Authors: Melanie Panitch, Jessica Machado, Jocelyn Courneya, Afrah Idrees and Samantha Wehbi

Article publication date: July 12, 2021

Overview: This paper aims to reflect on the facilitative factors that contribute to a shift in focus to social innovation for social justice in a higher education institution. The study provides lessons learned that can be takeaways for others interested in shifting their conceptualization of social innovation toward social justice.

Relying on a case study of social innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University, the paper begins with a brief history and the later development of the Office of Social Innovation (OSI). Through a reflection on three key initiatives, the study discusses strategic planning and partnerships, student programming and communications strategy.

The reflection process provides ingredients that have facilitated the intentional grounding of social innovation offerings and practices in social justice values, including creativity, collaboration, adaptability, voice and shifting the spotlight to alternate stories and ways of understanding social innovation. The authors also discuss the role of generative conflict and contradictions.

This study presents a reflective case study from a public research university, which holds a prominent reputation in entrepreneurial incubators and curricular offerings. With candid reflections from faculty and staff central in strategizing the direction of social innovation, the authors present experiences, perspectives and conflicts encountered when challenging the language and application of social innovation. The result is a unique contribution on what it means to ground post-secondary social innovation in social justice, why this shift was necessary and what has come from this work

Access: This article was published on July 12, 2021, in the Social Enterprise Journal; the full abstract can be read here (external link, opens in new window) . For access to the full article, email socialinnovation@torontomu.ca.