Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Capital in Higher Education Partnerships: A Case Study of the Canada–Cuba University Partnership

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Higher Education Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article reports on the findings of a case study about the Canada–Cuba University Partnership (CCUP), a teaching, research, and service partnership between individuals associated with a Canadian and Cuban University. The research question guiding the study was: “How do the relationships among individuals in the CCUP shape the partnership?” Our review of the existing literature on higher education partnerships reveals the lack of literature focusing on the relationships among individual partnership members. Our study is framed by social capital as our theoretical approach and social network analysis as our methodological approach. These approaches enable us to map out the connections between and among individuals and show the importance of their relationships. We analyze the partnership focusing on social capital, highlighting the mutually beneficial activities and the role of central actors in the network who contributed to the formation of the partnership and the long-lasting relationships among academics in both countries. Relationships in the CCUP are characterized by mutuality, solidarity, and strong and thick ties. The argument we advance is that understanding the collaborative relationships among members of higher education partnerships and the productive capacities of those relationships through the enactment of social capital provides insights into how sustainable and successful partnerships work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi, A., Wigand, R.T. and Hossain, L. (2014) ‘Measuring social capital through network analysis and its influence on individual performance’, Library and Information Science Research 36(1): 66–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arino, A. and de la Torre, J. (1998)’ Learning from failure: Towards an evolutionary model of collaborative ventures’, Organization Science 9(3):306–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assié-Lumumba, N. (2006) Higher education in Africa: crisis, reforms and transformation, CODESRIA working paper. Dakar, Senegal: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa.

  • Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (2005) Momentum: The 2005 Report on University Research and Knowledge Transfer, Ottawa: AUCC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, S. and Halgin, D. (2011) ‘On network theory’, Organization Science 22(5): 1168–1181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, S.P., Mehra, A., Brass, D.J. and Labianca, G. (2009) ‘Network analysis in the social sciences’, Science 323(5916): 892–895.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordogna, C. (2018) ‘Transnational higher education partnerships and the role of operational faculty members: Developing an alternative theoretical approach for empirical research’, Journal of Studies in International Education 22(1): 3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1986) ‘The Forms of Capital’, in J.E. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Theory of Research for the Sociology of Education, Oxford: Greenwood Press, pp. 241–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnoy, M. (1974) Education as cultural imperialism, New York: David Mckay.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, D.W., Pekol, A. and Wilson, E. (2014) ‘Cross-border university networks as a development strategy: Lessons from three university networks focused on emerging pandemic threats’, International Review of Education 60(5): 619–637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J (1988) ‘Social capital in the creation of human capital’, American Journal of Sociology 94(supplement): S95–S120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crossley, N., Bellotti, E., Edwards, G., Everett, M.G., Koskinen, J. and Tranmer, M. (2015) Social Network Analysis for Ego-nets, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrier-Kerr, J. and Haxton, P. (2014) ‘Developing an inter-university partnership: The importance of relationally-connected leaders’, The Journal of Values-Based Leadership 7(2): 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, L.C. (1977) ‘A set of measures of centrality based on betweenness’, Sociometry, 40(1): 35–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. (1973) ‘The strength of weak ties’, American Journal of Sociology 78(6): 1360–1380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jowi, J.O. (2009) ‘Internationalization of higher education in Africa: Developments, emerging trends, issues and policy implications’, Higher Education Policy 22(3): 263–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. and Celis, S. (2016) ‘Global partnership as a strategy for internationalisation: MBAs in Latin America and Asia and Oceania’, Higher Education Policy 29(3): 355–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinser, K. and Green, M. (2009) The Power of Partnerships: A Transatlantic Dialogue, Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, J.M. and McKenna, P. (1997) Canada–Cuba Relations: The Other Good Neighbor Policy, Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koehn, P.H. and Obamba, M.O. (2012) ‘Transnational Research and Development Partnerships in Higher Education: Global Perspectives’, in D. Deardorff, H. de Wit, J. D. Heyl and T. Adams (eds.) SAGE Handbook of International Education, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 359–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kot, C.F. (2016) ‘The perceived benefits of international partnerships in Africa: a case study of two public Universities in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo’, Higher Education Policy 29(1): 49–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leng, P. (2016) ‘Mutuality in Cambodian international university partnerships: looking beyond the global discourse’, Higher Education 72(3): 261–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leng, P. and Pan, J. (2013) ‘The issue of mutuality in Canada–China educational collaboration’, Canadian and International Education 42(2): 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, D.Z. and Cross, R. (2004). ‘The strength of weak ties you can trust: the mediating role of trust in effective knowledge transfer’, Management Science 50(11): 1477–1490.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, J.C., Cunningham, F., Carswell, P. and Braithwaite, J. (2014) ‘Patterns of collaboration in complex networks: the example of a translational research network’, BMC Health Services Research, 14: 225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mische, A. (2003) ‘Cross-talk in movements: Reconceiving the culture-network link’, in M. Diani and D. McAdam (eds.) Social Movements and Networks: Relational Approaches to Collective action, Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online, pp. 258–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morfit, C., Gore, J. and Akridge, P.B. (2009) U.S. Higher Education Partnerships in Africa: 1997–2007, Washington, DC: USAID and Higher Education of Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mützel, S. (2009) ‘Networks as culturally constituted processes: a comparison of relational sociology and actor-network theory’, Current Sociology 57(6): 871–887.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obamba, M.O. and Mwema, J.K. (2009) ‘Symmetry and asymmetry: new contours, paradigms, and politics in African academic partnerships’, Higher Education Policy 22(3): 349–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagliccia, N. (2008) ‘Solidarity organizations and friendship groups: internationalist volunteer work brigades and people-to-people ties’, in A. Kapacia and A. I. Gray (eds.) The Changing Dynamic of Cuban Civil Society, Gainsville: University Press of Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagglicia, N. (2014) Introduction: solidarity-based people-to-people foreign relations” in N. Pagliccia and J. Kirk (eds). Cuba Solidarity in Canada: Five Decades of People-to-People Foreign Relations, Victoria: Friesen Press, pp. 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierscionek, T. (2012) The Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People. London Progressive Journal, Available at http://londonprogressivejournal.com/article/view/1138/the-cuban-institute-for-friendship-with-the-peoples.

  • Pinheiro, C. (2011) Social Network Analysis in Telecommunications, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R.D. (1995) ‘Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America’ Political Science and Politics 28(4): 664–683.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. and Carrington, P. J. (eds.) (2011) The Sage Handbook of Social Network Analysis, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, M. (2010) ‘Re-orienting internationalisation in African higher education’, Globalisation, Societies and Education 8 (2): 269–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake, R. (1995) The art of case study research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S.B., Egginton, E. and Favela, R. (2012) ‘Collaborating on the future: strategic partnerships and linkages’, in D. Deardorff, H. de Wit, J.D Heyl and T. Adams, T. (eds.) Sage Handbook on International Higher Education, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 147–165.

  • Tedrow, B.J. and Mabokela, R.O. (2007) ‘An analysis of international partnership programs: The case of an historically disadvantaged institution in South Africa’, Higher Education 54(2): 159–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teferra, D. (2009) ‘African research collaboration must be fair and equal’, Available at http://www.scidev.net/global/policy/opinion/african-research-collaborations-must-be-fair-and-e.html.

  • Times Higher Education (2016) World University Rankings 2016–2017 Methodology. Available at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/methodology-world-university-rankings-2016-2017.

  • Wagner, C. and Leydesdorff, L. (2005) ‘Network structure, self-organization, and the growth of international collaboration in science’, Research Policy 34(10): 1608–1618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webber, C.F. and Robertson, J. M. (2003) ‘Developing an international partnership for tomorrow’s educational leaders’, International Studies in Educational Administration 31(1): 15–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, C. (2009) ‘Between nation and empire: the fair play for Cuba committees and the making of Canada-Cuba solidarity in the Early 1960s’, in R. Wright and L. Wylie (eds.) Our Place in the Sun: Canada and Cuba in the Castro Era, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 96–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wylie, L. (2010) Perceptions of Cuba: Canadian and American Policies in Comparative Perspective, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, L. and Chang, F. (2016) ‘Strategic alliance of EMBA international programs in Universities in Taiwan and China’, Xuexioa Xingzheng Shuangyuekan [School Administrators] 104: 82–101.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Road, London, ON, N6A 1G7, Canada

    Marianne A. Larsen & Clara I. Tascón

Authors
  1. Marianne A. Larsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Clara I. Tascón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marianne A. Larsen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Larsen, M.A., Tascón, C.I. Social Capital in Higher Education Partnerships: A Case Study of the Canada–Cuba University Partnership. High Educ Policy 33, 89–109 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-018-0100-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-018-0100-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation