Universities need innovations to secure and strengthen the quality of their education and keep up with societal, educational, and technological changes. One approach to achieve this is by promoting bottom-up innovations which are associated with many advantages. To enhance the bottom-up innovations’ reach and impact, it is important that they achieve scale. However, there is little empirical research on how and why bottom-up innovations can achieve scale, particularly in the context of higher education. This research project aims to contribute empirical insights into the factors and processes that foster the successful scale of bottom-up innovations in higher education. It does so by incorporating insights from multiple stakeholders (innovators, alters, and policymakers), from the start of the scale of bottom-up innovations to the scale on an institutional level. The methods include a comparative case study, longitudinal social network analyses, and a Delphi method. The findings may serve to guide policymakers and innovators in higher education in their efforts to scale bottom-up innovations.

This project received funding by Teaching and Learning Centre UvA