Detmer Latorre, Andrea del Carmen; (2020) Socio-emotional skills for innovation: boundary crossing pedagogies and learning catalysts in university innovation education. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis explores how socio-emotional skills contribute to innovative behaviours and how these skills are promoted in university innovation education contexts. The notion of ‘socio-emotional skills for innovation’ (SESI) proposed here reflects the intrinsic socio-emotional nature of some skills enhancing innovation, such as empathy, communication and resilience. The literature on innovation discusses these skills implicitly and scarcely, disconnected from the socio-emotional literature, limiting skills’ development in university innovation education. To overcome this issue, this thesis examines the following questions: What socio-emotional skills contribute to innovative behaviours and how do they support such behaviours? How are SESI pedagogically facilitated by educators in undergraduate innovation education programmes? To answer these questions, the study employed an exploratory cross-country multiple case study design focusing on four Minors Innovation in Chile and the Netherlands, which are optional credited cross-disciplinary undergraduate specialisations. Fifty-seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, educators and managers, and analysed thematically through the lens of various theories. The SESI emerging from the data were mapped into five pre-existing socio-emotional categories: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. The findings are organised according to the triad of SESI, pedagogies and learning catalysts. The analysis revealed ten personal-level skills contributing to innovation behaviours, namely, self-reflection, self-confidence, autonomy, resilience, empathy, openness, respect and value of diversity, collaboration, interdisciplinary communication and responsible decision-making. Pedagogically, innovation project-based work together with two boundary-crossing practices, cross-disciplinary education and community engagement, critically promoted SESI. The learners challenged their assumptions and interactions across these organisational (university-broader society) and disciplinary boundaries. Overcoming epistemological, relational, identity, and perspective-related tensions, permitted SESI development. ‘Learning catalysts’ emerged as facilitating conditions of SESI learning processes. Three catalysts are analysed: authenticity of learning experience, relation to otherness and protected autonomy. Comprehending SESI and their teaching-learning processes can further enhance innovation policies and university innovation education.

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