The interaction of lecturers and their professional fields - a social capital approach

One of the core elements of universities applied sciences (UAS) is its connection with professional fields. Lecturers establish relationships with private organizations and guide students in internships, projects, assignments and towards graduation. In this role, lecturers are confronted with developments in their field of expertise, thereby deploying their networks of relationships through their social capital. From these relationships, a certain reciprocity is created, resulting in possibilities for mutual support. We interviewed UAS lecturers via email about these relationships and the importance they attach to them. The theory of social capital is used to analyse the interactions between lecturers and companies or organizations in the professional field. Above all, these lecturers expressed interest in students’ learning processes and used social capital to achieve this aim, while indirectly recognizing its added value for the development of knowledge.