Universities and Social Innovation: The Human Dimension of Scientific Work in the Philippines

In countries marked by a poverty gap, universities often face the challenge of combining academic and professional culture – the culture knowledge production, and the humanistic culture, which is focused on responding to the common good and needs of society. This paper examines select cases of university-based social innovations in Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, in order to understand the human dimension of scientific work. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, it analyses these social innovations during their scale up and institutionalization phases and how they combine scientific vision and social commitments. Placing university knowledge mobilization in social context will show the diverse reality of social innovations in terms of barriers such as regulations; support systems, especially multi-level policy support; and power structures and hybrid cultures.