Entrepreneurial Universities

Abstract

<jats:p> Whether or not a society can be called ‘entrepreneurial’ depends in part on the legitimacy and esteem accorded to those who pursue the entrepreneurial route. Communities in which entrepreneurship can thrive create more jobs and wealth. Entrepreneurship foments the Schumpeterian process of creative destruction by which the new replaces the old. New opportunities are perceived, capitalized and converted into marketable products or services. Fresh competition in the free market economy and the breaking down of international borders will significantly influence new company formation and the underlying models of entrepreneurial motion. Ample opportunities for creativity and innovation are driving the move towards the formation of small businesses that from the start enter into a fast and high-growth phase – the so-called ‘entrepreneurial growth’ companies. Is there a distinctive role for education in enhancing entrepreneurial capacity bringing together entrepreneurial capacity and opportunities, and thus expanding local entrepreneurial activity in the form of entrepreneurial growth companies? In addressing this question, the paper first looks at two basic models of entrepreneurial motion – the small business model and the growth model – and then investigates the concepts of entrepreneurial learning and organizations for entrepreneurial education (the entrepreneurial universities). Entrepreneurial universities foster interaction and networking. They embed entrepreneurship in academic culture in order to achieve economic returns from the knowledge generated through research projects, empowered teams of teachers, students and business people, face-to-face and electronic relationships, and networked enterprises emerging from their spin-off activity. Finally, the paper identifies agents in the market and seed funds as instrumental organizations in the role of entrepreneurial universities. Endowed with high education and marketable skills, those agents support the new company in creating its own market. Seed funds provide risk-bearing capital and management support, which are complementary ingredients to money and intangible assets from the founder, family and friends. </jats:p>

Doctoral education in the entrepreneurial university : enhanced employability?

“…However, literature has shown that universities are far from being an homogenous type of organization: although all of them face increasing pressure from their varied stakeholders (Benneworth & Jongbloed, 2010), universities react differently, with their respective philosophies and strategies, which translates into different theoretical models of universities (Uyarra, 2010). The model of the entrepreneurial university is characterized by an emphasis put on research valorisation and regional socioeconomic impact, through the support of entrepreneurship and of knowledge exchange and collaboration (Galán-Muros, van der Sijde, Groenewegen, & Baaken, 2017;Klofsten et al, 2019;Urbano & Guerrero, 2013). This model is particularly interesting in the case of doctoral students, because it places doctoral students in transversal positions, being involved in teaching, in research as well as in the valorisation of research results.…”

“…For example, the impact of entrepreneurship education is hard to measure quantitatively but can be assessed qualitatively (Lackéus, Lundqvist, & Middleton, 2015). Urbano and Guerrero (2013) define the entrepreneurial university's provision of human, social, knowledge and entrepreneurship capital as the determinants of its socioeconomic impact. The university's staff and graduates embody all these types of capital.…”

“…Entrepreneurial universities have been a much-debated subject in the past decades . On the one hand, supporters claim that universities should be entrepreneurial so that they can take part in economic development in the knowledge-based economy (Urbano & Guerrero, 2013). On the other hand, detractors assess that universities should stay separate from economic stakes and power holders (Blumenthal, Causino, Campbell, & Louis, 1996;Toole & Czarnitzki, 2010), but instead should serve the public good, and beyond economic profits, as engaged or civic universities (Uyarra, 2010).…”

“…However, what mostly distinguishes an entrepreneurial university from other types of universities is its strategy and its efforts put into commercializing research results (Urbano & Guerrero, 2013;Uyarra, 2010) and into providing a favourable context for academic entrepreneurship initiatives (Heinnovate, 2015;Perkmann et al, 2013). Such an institutional support can take many forms, from entrepreneurship education (Bischoff, Volkmann, & Audretsch, 2018;Guenther & Wagner, 2008;Heinonen & Hytti, 2010) to coaching and physical support in incubators, through patent expert advice in TTOs (Technology Transfer Offices) (Fuster, Padilla-Meléndez, Lockett, & Del-Águila-Obra, 2019;Klofsten, Jones-Evans, & Schärberg, 1999).…”

Getting Down to Business

“…Communities in which entrepreneurship thrive create more jobs and wealth [4]. There is a distinctive role for education and universities in the development of wealth and a knowledgebased society [5].…”