In the knowledge society, conceptions about the value of DE have been challenged by transformations in its characteristics and finalities fostered by global drivers of change, including widening the purposes of higher education. This study explores the perceived value of DE in social and health sciences within the intersection of the purposes of higher education in the European knowledge society. Data were collected using 25 focus groups with members of scientific and monitoring commissions, supervisors, PhD candidates and holders from one Portuguese university's doctoral programmes in social and health sciences. The study identified three dimensions of the value of DE: personal, academic and career agency and development; knowledge and knowledge outputs and outcomes; and socioeconomic impact. These multiple dimensions of value coexist and interact in ways that may reinforce or hinder each other. Our findings reflect an ecological university constantly re-organising in the context of the knowledge society. The study stresses the need to strive for a better balance between the ecosystems involved in DE to foster its potential contribution to understanding and (re)creating a knowledge society that effectively strives for the betterment of the world.