1- Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University
Abstract: (29 Views)
Introduction and Objective: Academic entrepreneurship is the third mission of universities and higher education centers after the educational and research mission, so these institutions can play an important role in the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem and strengthen it by establishing it.
Academic entrepreneurship means promoting entrepreneurial behaviors of employees and students in the academic environment, Which, by creating opportunities for participation, also provides financial independence and income for academics and students. Thus, academic entrepreneurship can be defined as the creation of an entrepreneurial process in the academic environment while preserving intellectual property for the university. In this way, the entrepreneurial process encompasses all university activities (scientific, educational, research, etc.) and enables the university to interact with other economic actors, and subsequently injects the university’s intellectual property into commercial markets for the development of innovative ideas and products. As a result, the results and achievements of academic entrepreneurship are very important for academics, their affiliated universities, and the general public. Accordingly, different university departments have taken steps to develop academic entrepreneurship, but what makes such activities effective is the organization and implementation of various activities in a specific and planned format. Designing a model that can provide a specific intellectual framework and path for the development of academic entrepreneurship is useful and practical. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the effective components in the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University.
Materials and Methods: The research method is practical in terms of its purpose and terms of the overall approach, it is a combined (qualitative-quantitative) sequential type, in the first stage, the qualitative section was designed and then based on the findings of the qualitative part, the quantitative part of the research was followed. 42 experts including university faculty members, graduates, managers of knowledge-based companies, university entrepreneurship experts, university students, and researchers were purposefully selected for the qualitative part of the research. The required information was collected through interviews with the sample until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data analysis steps from the interviews were followed in the form of three-stage coding and the form of a grounded theory paradigm model. The validation of the findings obtained from the qualitative part of the research was investigated through the review of the findings by member checking and the triangulation technique. The community studied in the quantitative section were all faculty members, managers and vice-chancellors of the university, and the students of SANRU in Ph. D. and Master's degree (135 staff/professors and 1027 postgraduate students). Using simple stratified random sampling and based on the Cochran formula, 289 people were selected as a sample. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by asking faculty members and other entrepreneurship experts at the university level. The reliability of the questionnaire was also examined and confirmed by conducting a pre-test and calculating Cronbach's alpha. As a result, composite reliability (CR) was also used to measure the reliability of the constructs. In addition, the fit of the designed model concerning the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University was also examined in two parts including measurement and structural parts. The structural equation measurement model was studied using indicators such as factor loadings, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability (CR), convergent validity or AVE (average variance extracted), and divergent validity (Fornell-Larcker test). The structural model was also examined using indicators such as R2, t-coefficients, and path coefficients (Beta). The overall fit of the model was also studied using indicators such as the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and the normed fit index (NFI). The data obtained from the quantitative section were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the SmartPLS3 software package.
Results: Based on the findings of the qualitative section, six components causal factors, contextual factors, intervening factors, entrepreneurship development, strategies, and consequences are the main components of the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. From the point of view of the students and employees of Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, contextual factors (path coefficient 0.967) had the greatest role in the implementation of university entrepreneurship development strategies, and intervening factors had a negative relationship with university entrepreneurship development strategies (path coefficient -0.410) and this finding shows that the role of intervening obstacles is more pronounced. The relationship between the development of academic entrepreneurship and its strategies, as well as the relationship between strategies and the consequences of academic entrepreneurship, is meaningful. Between two groups of academic entrepreneurship strategies in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, policy strategies and support programs with a higher factor load (0.952) are on the first rank and educational-cultural strategies with a factor load of 0.910 are on the next rank. Among the various consequences resulting from the implementation of university entrepreneurship development strategies, economic consequences, organizational consequences, individual consequences, and social consequences were ranked in the order of priority from the most important to the least important consequences.
Conclusion: Various components are effective in the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. From economic components to social, and cultural components, etc. An important part of the effective components in the obtained model can be attributed to the conditions of the organization. Therefore, the university can be considered as an organization whose preservation and promotion depend on organizational entrepreneurship. The improvement of organizational conditions as the main sub-components of causal factors has an impact on the development of intra-organizational interests, which is the most important aspect of the development of academic entrepreneurship. Favorable management conditions in the university can affect the improvement of policies, laws, and support programs of the university and thus the creation and establishment of university entrepreneurship. At the same time, the financial and technical obstacles of the university make the establishment of entrepreneurship difficult. In the end, suggestions for a more successful establishment of entrepreneurship in the studied university were presented.
Academic entrepreneurship means promoting entrepreneurial behaviors of employees and students in the academic environment, Which, by creating opportunities for participation, also provides financial independence and income for academics and students. Thus, academic entrepreneurship can be defined as the creation of an entrepreneurial process in the academic environment while preserving intellectual property for the university. In this way, the entrepreneurial process encompasses all university activities (scientific, educational, research, etc.) and enables the university to interact with other economic actors, and subsequently injects the university’s intellectual property into commercial markets for the development of innovative ideas and products. As a result, the results and achievements of academic entrepreneurship are very important for academics, their affiliated universities, and the general public. Accordingly, different university departments have taken steps to develop academic entrepreneurship, but what makes such activities effective is the organization and implementation of various activities in a specific and planned format. Designing a model that can provide a specific intellectual framework and path for the development of academic entrepreneurship is useful and practical. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the effective components in the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University.
Materials and Methods: The research method is practical in terms of its purpose and terms of the overall approach, it is a combined (qualitative-quantitative) sequential type, in the first stage, the qualitative section was designed and then based on the findings of the qualitative part, the quantitative part of the research was followed. 42 experts including university faculty members, graduates, managers of knowledge-based companies, university entrepreneurship experts, university students, and researchers were purposefully selected for the qualitative part of the research. The required information was collected through interviews with the sample until theoretical saturation was achieved. The data analysis steps from the interviews were followed in the form of three-stage coding and the form of a grounded theory paradigm model. The validation of the findings obtained from the qualitative part of the research was investigated through the review of the findings by member checking and the triangulation technique. The community studied in the quantitative section were all faculty members, managers and vice-chancellors of the university, and the students of SANRU in Ph. D. and Master's degree (135 staff/professors and 1027 postgraduate students). Using simple stratified random sampling and based on the Cochran formula, 289 people were selected as a sample. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by asking faculty members and other entrepreneurship experts at the university level. The reliability of the questionnaire was also examined and confirmed by conducting a pre-test and calculating Cronbach's alpha. As a result, composite reliability (CR) was also used to measure the reliability of the constructs. In addition, the fit of the designed model concerning the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University was also examined in two parts including measurement and structural parts. The structural equation measurement model was studied using indicators such as factor loadings, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability (CR), convergent validity or AVE (average variance extracted), and divergent validity (Fornell-Larcker test). The structural model was also examined using indicators such as R2, t-coefficients, and path coefficients (Beta). The overall fit of the model was also studied using indicators such as the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and the normed fit index (NFI). The data obtained from the quantitative section were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the SmartPLS3 software package.
Results: Based on the findings of the qualitative section, six components causal factors, contextual factors, intervening factors, entrepreneurship development, strategies, and consequences are the main components of the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. From the point of view of the students and employees of Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, contextual factors (path coefficient 0.967) had the greatest role in the implementation of university entrepreneurship development strategies, and intervening factors had a negative relationship with university entrepreneurship development strategies (path coefficient -0.410) and this finding shows that the role of intervening obstacles is more pronounced. The relationship between the development of academic entrepreneurship and its strategies, as well as the relationship between strategies and the consequences of academic entrepreneurship, is meaningful. Between two groups of academic entrepreneurship strategies in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, policy strategies and support programs with a higher factor load (0.952) are on the first rank and educational-cultural strategies with a factor load of 0.910 are on the next rank. Among the various consequences resulting from the implementation of university entrepreneurship development strategies, economic consequences, organizational consequences, individual consequences, and social consequences were ranked in the order of priority from the most important to the least important consequences.
Conclusion: Various components are effective in the establishment of academic entrepreneurship in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. From economic components to social, and cultural components, etc. An important part of the effective components in the obtained model can be attributed to the conditions of the organization. Therefore, the university can be considered as an organization whose preservation and promotion depend on organizational entrepreneurship. The improvement of organizational conditions as the main sub-components of causal factors has an impact on the development of intra-organizational interests, which is the most important aspect of the development of academic entrepreneurship. Favorable management conditions in the university can affect the improvement of policies, laws, and support programs of the university and thus the creation and establishment of university entrepreneurship. At the same time, the financial and technical obstacles of the university make the establishment of entrepreneurship difficult. In the end, suggestions for a more successful establishment of entrepreneurship in the studied university were presented.
Keywords: Academic entrepreneurship, Employment of university graduates, Entrepreneurship education, Future entrepreneurs
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