Higher education is an ever-evolving industry, but some academics and leaders who work on the frontline of its evolution often go unnoticed.

These leaders and their work exist in the third space of higher education, producing exciting new knowledge.

So, what is this third space, this ‘no man’s land’?

Discussion at work — The third space is where creativity and collaboration thrive outside traditional boundaries. Picture: Getty Images

The third space is not necessarily a real place you can visit. It can be anywhere, and it can also be nowhere.

It’s mostly a metaphor. It could be imagined as a blurry intersection between professional and academic staff, where roles and professional identities overlap.

The third space is where important work happens, often not because of formal rules or structures, but despite them. It’s a space where creativity and collaboration thrive outside traditional boundaries.

The term is used by university staff to describe roles where they balance conflicting academic, professional and research goals, along with their other pursuits and achievements.

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Third spaces in higher education are dynamic environments where individuals collaborate across traditional boundaries, blending roles and responsibilities.

These spaces encourage participants to transcend the typical expectations of their roles, fostering innovation and collaboration through the intersection of diverse perspectives and expertise.

Why are third spaces important?

Third spaces can foster creativity, experimentation and advancement that can create exceptional results. In the current turbulence of the higher education sector, change is really the only constant.

Higher education landscapes are evolving globally, continually grappling with challenges like shifting student demographics, policy changes, funding constraints, the impact of AI on teaching and learning and the growing need for inclusive and adaptable teaching practices.

These transformations shape not only who participates in higher education but also how institutions ensure that teaching and learning remain relevant, responsive, and equitable in an increasingly complex academic environment.

This means transformations are often necessary and interconnectedness across university roles is essential.

Students on campus — In the current turbulence of the higher education sector, change is really the only constant. Picture: Getty Images

Third space workers ideally incorporate wide-ranging ideas and expectations, working together to achieve common or unique goals.

They actively steer meaningful dialogue and explore purpose and gaps in knowledge through research while navigating multiple roles and conflicting tensions.

Third space workers also have the skills to respectfully listen, work in partnership and learn from different stakeholders including staff, students, managers and industry representatives.

They act as conduits between various communities, sub-cultures and organisations, in the interests of education within and beyond their institution.

In this way, the spaces that these workers inhabit function beyond typical expectations and respond to all kinds of timeframes and circumstances.

In doing so, roles and responsibilities intersect and blend.

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A brief history of third spaces

The definition of the ‘third space’ has an interesting history, with differing interpretations stretching back several decades.

In 1994, Indian scholar and critical theorist Homi Bhabha initiated the idea of third space as a site, both physical and ideological, where contrasting ideas and narratives come into contact.

Taking this idea further, in 1996, American political geographer Edward Soja described the third space as a place where place and mind intersect. This intersection is what we think we know (ontology) and how we came to know it (epistemology) meeting with ‘radical scepticism’.

Students at work at Uni — The third space exists between and beyond typical academic and professional activities. Picture: Getty Images

In recent decades, these initial concepts of the third space have been incorporated and adapted in higher education to foster a conceptual site.

A site where the meeting of perspectives and critical questioning of current and traditional practices and philosophies opens up new possibilities for transforming higher education.

In 2008, British higher education scholar Celia Whitchurch introduced the concept into the context of higher education.

Whitchurch predicted that the role of academics would increasingly merge with the roles of professional staff, creating broad and different third space roles across institutions.

This conceptual yet real space can cover a huge spectrum, ranging from teaching practices to student life, wellbeing in the academic journey, student engagement and widening participation in staff-student partnerships.

It can also include teaching and learning support, community and industry partnerships and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research and institutional research.

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While such multiplicities foster creativity, experimentation and advancements, from time to time it can result in uncertainty regarding whether a third space is constructed as a concept or organisational phenomenon.

There needs to be a willingness to create cohesive interdisciplinary and sub-cultural connections to enable meaningful transformation and hybridity.

The third space offers an inclusive yet diverse framework where people beyond the traditional formal roles and responsibilities can connect and contribute in response to diverse needs and expectations in the ever-changing circumstances.

It can enable institutions to take a more holistic and innovative approach to tackling problems.

The third space challenges academic and non-academic binaries; it exists between and beyond typical academic and professional activities.

Worker with graph on laptop — The third space can enable institutions to take a more holistic and innovative approach to tackling problems. Picture: Getty Images

Ghost Leaders

Despite the clear benefit third space workers bring to institutions, they are rarely understood or appreciated.

An unspoken yet strong sense of ‘outsider status’ from third space workers, and the positioning of the third space as ‘no man’s land’ suggests a lack of acknowledgement of third space work and roles.

Even in 2024, third space roles are still perceived to be marginal and commonly have little or no authority. They are still not clearly understood.

Who are these third space workers and how might others within and beyond the higher education institutions recognise them?

Do third space workers have any voice and, if so, who listens to them?

Are they visible enough in the power dynamics?

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Visionary work is demanded of them, but is their voice and vision included in the future-facing institutional strategies and planning?

These questions need to be asked and discussed.

Otherwise, these third space workers might, instead, remain as Ghost Leaders, playing a crucial role whilst experiencing a lack of recognition, power, or even belonging within the higher education institutions they serve.

This article was first published on Pursuit. Read the original article.

Dr

Nira Rahman

Lecturer and Curriculum Designer

Faculty of Arts

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Nira Rahman

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