Orientation shift? : understanding the "third mission" of the university in Malaysia's science system

The paper examines how the conceptualisation and materialisation of the third mission of the university affect scientific knowledge production in Malaysia. In light of scientific knowledge, the materialisation of the third mission will bring more interactions with respect to production, use, application, and exploitation of knowledge outside academic environments. Think tanks such as the Overseas Development Institute in the UK and Penang Institute in Malaysia are producing scientific knowledge, while engaging in policy advice. They may well have a better strategy in terms of science communication of their scientific knowledge-related outputs due to their organisational orientation. Nevertheless, scientific knowledge is a type of knowledge that is often assigned to university as a knowledge-producing organisation. In Malaysia, currently there is a transformation of higher education which is pushed, at least to some extent, by the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (PSPTN) 2007-2020. The strategic plan envisages, inter alia, internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia. Fieldwork in Malaysia in 2015 and 2016 shows how key performance indicators are vital for researchers and lecturers in universities. In addition to the indicators, consultancy and service to university and community are criteria for promotion of lecturers and senior lecturers. Indeed, there have been scholarly contributions with regard to the role of universities in terms of the triple helix innovation, science policy, and transnational higher education in Malaysia. The proposed paper builds further from these studies by asking how does the third mission in Malaysia affect scientific knowledge production at the university? The paper will offer empirical findings from qualitative fieldwork carried out in two universities located in Penang, Malaysia in 2015. In-depth interviews with lecturers and senior lecturers were conducted in 2015. In addition to the interviews, data analysis was carried out using documents and government reports from 2011-2017.