by Sue Rossano-Rivero (2018)
This research investigates the entrepreneurial behaviour of academics. Nowadays, universities are expected to be organisations with open boundaries, allowing for the cooperation and interdependency among different actors in the society. Against this background, this research focuses on the engagement of academics on entrepreneurial activities with external actors, so as to introduce novelties in teaching to create value for the university.
Social capital theory on entrepreneurship explains how social structures facilitate and constrain opportunities, behaviours, and cognitions of social actors. However, we know less about the actions of individuals to organize their social network in the first place. This research contributes to this theory by focusing on the individual characteristics, such as networking practices of academics, as antecedents of social capital organisation.
Additionally, this research provides societal contribution by accomplishing a better understanding of the possible synergies between the three core tasks of the university (teaching, research and knowledge transfer). This research follows a sequential mixed methods approach grounded in critical realism. Four studies are conducted to understand:
How do the social interactions of academics affect their entrepreneurial behaviour within the context of UBC-based education, and (if any) with what effects on the education mission of the university?