Understanding entrepreneurial academics ‐ how they perceive their environment differently

Abstract

PurposeAcademic entrepreneurship is seen as a pathway for universities to create value from their knowledge. However, there has been a lack of clarity about what activities constitute academic entrepreneurship, the different type of entrepreneurial academics and how their perceptions of their environment relate to their engagement.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on a large data set of 10,836 responses across 33 countries, the empirical study investigates European academics who undertake four academic entrepreneurship activities (spin-out creation, commercialisation of R&D results, joint R&D and consulting) to determine if they perceive the environment for academic entrepreneurship differently than those who undertake only some of the activities and those undertaking none at all.FindingsThe findings show that less than 1% of academics undertake exclusively spin-offs creation or R&D commercialisation; however, the majority also engage in other entrepreneurial activities such as joint R&D and consulting and even other education and management engagement activities with industry. In addition, entrepreneurial academics in Europe perceive significantly higher motivators and more developed supporting mechanisms for academic entrepreneurship. However, their perceptions of barriers are similar.Practical implicationsAt a managerial and policy level, the study results call into question universities prioritising a narrow view of academic entrepreneurship which focusses only on spin-offs creation and R&D commercialisation. Instead, a broader view of academic entrepreneurship is recommended and appropriate mechanisms in place to enable academics to achieve research outcomes from their entrepreneurial activity.Originality/valueThis paper offers an important contribution on how the perception of the environment contributes to the development of entrepreneurial behaviour in individual academics.

Manfaat Modal Maya untuk Mengembangkan Entreprenurship Mahasiswa: Studi di Lingkungan Universitas Mataram

“…Kajian bidang entrepreneurship dan kaitannya dengan modal maya para mahasiswa mulai banyak dikaji secara intensif, dalam empat tahun terakhir. Kajian entrepreneurship secara kontekstual perlu mempertimbangkan faktor lingkungan dimana entrepreneurship tersebut dikembangkan (Davey & Galan-Muros, 2020). Paradigma yang dipilih pada dasarnya selaras dengan pandangan para psikolog, yaitu perilaku merupakan fungsi dari sikap dan lingkungan.…”

A theory-driven model of the spin-off creation process: A Social Information Processing perspective

“…The spin-offs' role is widely recognized in the studies on Academic Entrepreneurship (Autio, 1997;Hayter, Nelson, Zayed & O' Connor, 2018;Wright, Siegel & Mustar, 2017). Even if other forms of commercialization have attracted scholars' attention (Bolzani et al, 2020;Davey & Galan Muros, 2020), it is clear that this form of engagement has a determinant impact on economic growth (Vincett, 2010).…”

Guest editorial

“…The final paper “Understanding entrepreneurial academics – How they see their environment differently” by Davey and Galán-Muros (2020) investigates the differences in the perception of the environment for academic entrepreneurship among European scientists. This paper calls for a broader view of academic entrepreneurship beyond the traditional sole focus on spin-off creation and R&D commercialisation and highlights the importance of appropriate support mechanisms for entrepreneurial activities.…”