Reconstituting the university as a social enterprise

Nick Petford

What is a social enterprise and why should UK universities take notice? Social enterprises can be defined as organisations that use business methods to make profit for reinvestment in order to achieve a social mission, and not necessarily shareholder gain. This makes them different from charities and mutuals, and could be used as inspiration for universities.

At Northampton, we are asking what it would mean to reconstitute ourselves as a social enterprise, as a means of reconciling the opposing forces of the market with those traditional cultural values that have made higher education what it is today.