Social Innovation: How to Engage Stakeholders When They Don’t See the Problem as a Problem

• In Event: Women out Front: Activism, Engagement, and Attitudes

Short Description

The paper reports findings from a social innovation initiative aimed at increasing the number of women professors at a Norwegian university college. Presenters will show that applying a social constructivist perspective leads to engagement of key stakeholders, which in turn moves the project forward in spite of ongoing hesitancies and resistance.

Detailed Abstract

Social innovation on the rise
Social innovation is a research field on the rise (Cajaiba-Santana, 2014:42) with the potential to explore and resolve pressing social, economic and environmental challenges (Windrum et al. 2016). Social innovation can be defined as the development and implementation of new ideas to meet social needs (Mulgan et al., 2007a). Phills, Deiglmeier, and Miller (2008) add a value proposition to this, stating that the value created accrues (benefits) primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals.

Social Problems; in the eyes of the beholder
A special challenge when addressing social innovation, is that even if problems are visible at the societal level, causes and solutions may to a substantial degree originate inside current organizations where they are less obvious. As Weick (1995:9) points out; problems do not present themselves as givens. They must be constructed from problematic situations that are perceived as puzzling, troubling and uncertain. This, in turn, may motivate individuals to provide the necessary attention, information, resources, decisions, etc. to help change the situation.
However, when needs and problems are not sufficiently identified, they are less likely to be seen as relevant to attend to. Moreover, changes also come with a cost. As Schumpeter (1942) noted; no matter how many advantages an innovation can produce, the status quo is bound to be disrupted. Research shows that although social innovations may be incremental in nature, many require systemic transformations or change which challenge the status quo (Gladwin et al., 1995; Noci & Verganti, 1999; Mulgan et al., 2007b). In the short run, performance may be worsened and new approaches may be inefficient (Mulgan et al.,2007a). Moreover, when solutions to social problems are implemented inside current organizations, the effect may be that some people win at other people’s expense. Thus, changes may be seen as an improvement by a group and a regression by others (Cajaiba-Santana, 2014:44). This may lead to resistance among those affected. Stakeholders are those who can negatively or positively affect or may be affected by the success of an innovation (Cels et al., 2012:13).

Gender imbalance; relevant to whom?
A case in point is the current status of women in top leadership positions in Norway. At the national level, Norway is ranked as one of the most gender equal societies in the world , however, this is not the case when it comes to top leadership positions where women remain largely underrepresented. In academia and in the research sector, more specifically, there is one woman among every four professors (DBH, 2013). Moreover, the change is moving slowly, increasing with about one percent per year (Ulvestad, 2016). This gender imbalance has raised concerns at political and institutional levels, and resulted in numerous national and transnational programs and initiatives with the aim of improving gender equality in research and higher education institutions.
Focusing in on the organizational level, there are special challenges related to establishing this as a problem worth attending to. Among professional colleagues who consider themselves a part of the post-modern era, gender is often played down as social identity factor, making the issue of gender a non-issue (Young, 2003). Moreover, academia often prides itself to be a meritocracy, where political concerns like gender equality may seem to be ‘lost in translation’, meaning it is perceived to have no place there (Nielsen, 2015). Thus, the notion that gender imbalance in is a problem with relevance inside higher education institutions, may seem far-fetched. On this background, the problem addressed in this paper is how to onboard and engage stakeholders in a social innovation initiative when its’ aim to increase the number of women in top academic positions is not necessarily acknowledged as a problem.

The importance of engaging stakeholders
From a social constructivist perspective, social innovation can be seen as emerging and constructed from social interaction between people and their socio-institutional context (Cajaiba-Santana, 2013:49). A particularly interesting question relates to individuals who are involved in setting the ground for social innovations, and that steps they might take to arrive at and gain support for their initiatives (Marcy, 2015). A key role of change agents and leaders is to mobilize and inspire those who will influence and be influenced by an initiative to see the meaning, purpose and possibilities of becoming a part of its’ collaborative effort. In other words, to engage stakeholders in committing to the project and move it forward.

Method: Action research
This paper gathers its data from an ongoing project (KLOK), targeting the social problem of gender imbalance at the highest echelons of a university college located in southeast Norway. The specific aim of KLOK is to increase the number of women professors, in addition to initiating organizational development efforts via an action research project. The authors are action researchers involved in this project. The data are gathered from multiple sources.

Findings
Preliminary results and findings support the idea that applying a social constructivist perspective leads to an engagement of key stakeholders, which in turn moves the project forward in spite of substantial hesitancy and resistance.

Implications
Practical implications are particularly related to recommendations as to how one may proceed in developing commitment and engagement by relevant stakeholders to a social innovation initiative. It is also a contribution to both the social innovation literature and the literature on gender balance and women and leadership.

Participants

• Irmelin Drake, University College of Southeast Norway

• Jorun Ulvestad, University College of Southeast-Norway

• Brit Bolken Ballangrud, University College of Southeast Norway

• Sigrun Wessel Svenkerud, University College of Southeast Norway