A pracademic framework to strengthen higher education engagement in Ecuador

Maria del Carmen Zenck Huerta and José Daniel Merchán Naranjo

Development in Practice, 2025, vol. 35, issue 2, 264-269

Abstract: This viewpoint discusses the importance of a legal and institutional framework that makes pracademia sustainable for engagement or for the transfer of knowledge to communities that Ecuadorian universities do. It argues that a virtuous integration of national higher education laws on engagement, plus institutional conditions provided by universities, allows relevant pracademic action that fosters development. Ecuadorian law’s definition of engagement as a substantive function guides universities’ work to contribute to the development of communities. After analysing three engagement programs carried out by pracademics, it is found that universities comply with national higher education regulations. However, the achieved results also depend on the pracademics’ and university’s ability to assess actors, generate incentives for collaboration, assess the benefits and results of engaging with actors, and design engagement programs with a pracademic focus. This suggests laws and regulations regarding engagement, and its compliance by universities, as an important topic for pracademia.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2024.2417240

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