As a growing number of Dutch higher education institutions become increasingly interested and active in university–community engagement, questions have arisen about their motivations, goals, and activities in this area. This paper aims to provide insight into the factors driving universities’ community engagement and how this is manifested in the Netherlands, considering, in particular, the role of marketization and corporate social responsibility. It thus offers an empirical foundation for understanding university–community engagement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with major stakeholders in university–community engagement at four Dutch universities, including members of the executive boards. It was found that university–community engagement shows several similarities to corporate social responsibility and is based on a complex mix of value-driven, performance-driven, and reaction-driven motivations. Three relationships between marketization and university–community engagement are identified, characterizing university–community engagement as a counteraction against marketization, an expression of marketization, and a result of marketization.@en

University–community engagement has been implemented by anincreasing number of universities across the world, in a period characterized by growing international competition. The growth of interest in university–community engagement has led to multiple definitions of this term and a high level of complexity in defining what it entails. Using a literature review, this article offers a critical assessment of the academic literature on university–community engagement. The article aims to provide insight into trends, commonalities, and variations in the literature, to enable the identification of an agenda for future research. We identify four main gaps in the literature, which we suggest addressing through a more critical conceptual discussion supported by empirical research, broadening the theoretical lens, and using particular research approaches, such as theories of change. Altogether, this will enable a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of university–community engagement.

@en