O indivíduo de vida híbrida: uma análise das configurações de empreendedorismo acadêmico e dos modos de produção, difusão e comercialização do conhecimento

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the issue of the transformation of the standards of production, diffusion and commercialization of scientific knowledge that occurred in the last quartile of the XX century, owing to the influence of paradigms and tendencies that aimed at transforming the traditional university model into the entrepreneur university model. Such discussion relates to a debate about the production mode 1, in which basic knowledge is produced irrespective of industry-oriented applications, and the production mode 2, in which knowledge is produced in the context of industry-oriented applications.In the literature review, a discussion on the New Legal Landmark for ST&I and the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation (NSSTI) relates these themes to the Triple Helix Approach – interaction among university, industry and government. In addition, a discussion on the typologies of academic entrepreneurship and the concept of academic hybridity was carried out, by means of the analysis of how such configurations influence how scholars view the ways of producing, diffusing and commercializing knowledge. This study consists of a qualitative research, of an exploratory character, which is oriented by phenomenology and hermeneutics, and applies the snowball sampling technique for recruiting the interviewees. The subjects of this research consisted of 15 scholars from two public universities of the state of Rio de Janeiro, who somehow perform or have tried to perform academic entrepreneurship activities and/or self-identify as entrepreneurs, according to their cognitive representations of the phenomenon. Such individuals have been named hybrid life individuals. We opted for carrying out in-depth conversational semi-structured interviews as a data collection technique. The research was guided by the following guiding question: how do the hybrid life individuals relate to the new paradigms, tendencies and regulations that promote a greater interaction among university, industry and government at the Brazilian public universities? This central question was supported by three accessory questions: a) how do the so-called hybrid life individuals perceive of and describe their experiences as academic entrepreneurs?; b) what are the barriers that impede the interaction university-industry-government from the perspective of the hybrid life individual?; c) how do the so-called hybrid life individuals view the influence of the New Legal Landmark for Science, Technology and Innovation in their activities? In the analysis and discussion of the research results, we demonstrated the path taken by the interviewees in search for answers. The most relevant conclusions of this research provide some possible clues regarding the multiple and plural ways in the process of production, diffusion and commercialization of knowledge. These clues also point that, despite the advances, there are still barriers for the interaction among university, industry and government. It was also observed that the possibilities for implementing and operationalizing the New Legal Landmark will depend on the adherence by the legal operators and academic scientists to the new regulations.