QUT and the Centre for Decent Work and Industry is proud to host Professor Mats Benner, sociologist, and Dean at Lund University School of Economics and Management, Sweden. He will discuss how the pandemic affected universities in Australia, the UK and Sweden, and how governments and the university communities responded.
Abstract
Throughout history, universities have been deeply affected by societal developments, war, peace, booms, and busts. Disruption and rupture are characteristic of the university-society relationship, with the pandemic as only the most recent instance in history. Professor Mats Benner will showcase how the pandemic affected universities in Australia, the UK and Sweden, and how governments, university leadership, faculty, staff and students responded. He will highlight the significant differences between the three countries in their approach to the pandemic. The dramatic upheavals of the pandemic years may also provide an opportunity to choose to change things for the better, as universities move towards consciously planning for a different future and explore possible lessons for the future.
Bio
Mats Benner is a professor of science policy studies at Lund University and is engaged in studies of research policy formation and implementation, and university policy. He has written on the future of Asian universities and the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and its influence on university governance and power relations affected by the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and other broader forces. His recent book Crisis Response in Higher Education: How the Pandemic Challenged University Operations and Organisations explores the impact of Covid-19 on universities, and how students, staff, faculty and academic leaders have adapted to and dealt with the impact of the pandemic.
Listen to the presentation:
A transcript of the presentation will be added soon.