Navigating Tensions Between Personal and Institutional Values and Goals in Community-Engaged Scholarship

Community-engaged scholars often pursue their work with commitments to relationship building, responsiveness to community priorities, reciprocity, and meaningful community impact. At the same time, universities operate within systems that emphasize individual initiative, productivity, efficiency, and metrics that reflect institutional prestige. While these goals may occasionally align, they can also create tensions that require difficult choices and ongoing negotiation. This panel will explore the challenges that arise when personal values, community priorities, and institutional expectations do not fully align. Panelists will share their experiences balancing relationship-centered engagement with academic demands, navigating competing definitions of success, and making decisions when commitments to communities conflict with institutional pressures. Participants will gain insight into strategies for approaching these tensions thoughtfully while remaining grounded in their values and goals.

-Jennifer Carrera, Associate Professor, Sociology, Michigan State University

-Fatima Espinosa Vásquez, Associate Professor, Information Science, University of Kentucky

-Yingying Han, Assistant Professor, Information Sciences, University of Tennessee - Knoxville