The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Development of Social Entrepreneurship: The Case of Tallinn University Social Entrepreneurship Study Program, Estonia

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a higher education social enterprise program and explore how it is shaping the field of social entrepreneurship. Social enterprise related university programs are an emerging trend. Entrepreneurial university theory and ecosystem framework are used to illustrate how the university social enterprise program, in turn, develops the field of social entrepreneurship. An example of an existing social enterprise program is discussed to highlight how it can be designed. Cases of social enterprises emerged as the result of the program are used to outline the different impacts that such support to social entrepreneurship might have. The research chapter reveals the multi-dimensional nature of the social enterprise program and its impact on students establishing their own social enterprises. It suggests that the incubation and other support activities should expand beyond the university program including a variety of network partners. The chapter provides empirical evidence of social enterprise development in a higher education institution and contributes to the global body of knowledge about fostering social enterprise development. As the provision of social entrepreneurship education is new in Estonia and the discussions on social enterprises are premature, the number of social entrepreneurship development partners is limited and hence the empirical data is currently scarce. The journey towards an entrepreneurial university is limited due to the lack of legal support and suitable infrastructure which would enhance project-based learning, support ‘spin-offs’ and patenting and rather engenders a more traditional academic learning environment.

Exploring Venture Funding in the Entrepreneurial University

This chapter considers the role of venture funding in the entrepreneurial university. It begins by discussing the literature on the entrepreneurial university, focusing on the role of financing. The literature shows that there are gaps in the financing of academic and graduate ventures. The second part of the chapter introduces short case examples that illustrate different forms of university-led venture funding, demonstrating how different universities have sought to fill funding gaps by means of seed capital grants, micro-financing, small business research grants, crowdfunding, social impact investing, seed capital investing, public venture capital, and venture capital. The chapter concludes by arguing that universities have sufficient resource endowments and human capital to address many funding gaps through innovative thinking and practice.

The Entrepreneurial University and Business Incubation

The primary aim of this chapter is to review the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems, focusing on the activities of two key institutions: higher education institutions and business incubation centres (BICs). This chapter explores how best to manage the connection between business incubation centres and higher education institutions. It examines the activities of business incubation centres (BICs) as they relate to entrepreneurial universities and provides an overview of the key challenges associated with developing entrepreneurial universities. Findings are presented in the form of a conceptual framework that facilitates an improved understanding of the benefits of connecting the capabilities, activities, and outcomes associated with higher education and business incubation. The chapter offers a lens by which to consider the design of BICs as they relate to entrepreneurial universities and offers pathways to consider future research.

Assessing the Entrepreneurial University from the Students' Perspective

Becoming an entrepreneurial university is one of the core objectives of the EU-OECD HEInnovate tool. This objective was also the catalyst for implementing HEInnovate within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Aveiro (UAVR), Portugal. This chapter explores the findings from a study that applied a mixed-methods approach to assessing the entrepreneurial and innovative vision of UAVR's students from different academic years and courses. Findings demonstrate students' high level of interest in innovation and entrepreneurship and highlight the importance they placed on entrepreneurial learning and teaching. Entrepreneurial learning and teaching were found to be especially important for creating collaborative networks between different people and scientific domains, both within and outside of the university.

Integral estimation of activity of entrepreneurial universities: practical aspect

Investigated problem. Implementation of the concept of an entrepreneurial university necessitates the formation of a system of activity indicators of educational institutions. The main scientific results. It is specified that the activity of entrepreneurial universities and educational institutions that try to comply with this concept should be systematically rated. The author analyzes modern approaches to estimation of the activity of entrepreneurial universities. The own viewpoint to this evaluation on the basis of calculation of an integrated indicator is offered. The main stages of the algorithm for estimating the activity are described. An integrated activity indicator for five universities has been calculated. The ranking of educational institutions in accordance with the calculated desegregated measures and the concept of entrepreneurial university has been held. The results of the analysis showed that the studied educational institutions from the United States are more in line with the concept of the entrepreneurial university than European ones. The area of practical use of the research results. The practical results of the study can be used in the process of estimating the activity of entrepreneurial universities. Innovative technological product. The scientific approach to the evaluation of the activity of entrepreneurial universities proposed by the author allows to form their rating, to track the position of each educational institution in the dynamics. Scope of application of the innovative technological product: educational policy at the micro- and macroeconomic levels.

The Effect of University Missions on Entrepreneurial Initiative across Multiple Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Evidence from Europe

Entrepreneurial universities are a significant element of entrepreneurial ecosystems and aspire to foster entrepreneurial initiative through their “third mission”. However, while entrepreneurial ecosystems are scrutinized using a contextual approach to detect differences and similarities and how they affect entrepreneurship, little is known about how entrepreneurial universities impact entrepreneurial initiatives in general, considering multiple environments. Drawing on entrepreneurial university and entrepreneurial ecosystem theories, a conceptual framework is proposed that aims to explain the effect of the entrepreneurial university on an entrepreneurial initiative through its three “missions”, using an entrepreneurial ecosystem taxonomy. Based on individual data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, this entrepreneurial initiative analyzed 18 European countries in 2017. The results do not generally support the importance of entrepreneurial universities to entrepreneurial initiative. The relevance of entrepreneurial universities increases in more fragile entrepreneurial ecosystems since individuals need support over multiple dimensions. Conversely, the entrepreneurial universities that are embedded in stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems lose relevance and negatively affect the entrepreneurial initiative. Therefore, the value of entrepreneurial universities is reduced when individuals receive greater support from other dimensions. The variations across both groups suggest that the concept of entrepreneurial universities is not a contemporaneous phenomenon; however, their effect is progressively revealed by the maturity of each university’s mission. This perspective substantially changes the understanding of entrepreneurial universities as a thwartwise strategy, suggesting that the universities’ impact is expanded as their missions gradually evolve. Overall, the study contributes to an understanding of the implications for universities that blindly follow entrepreneurship, neglecting the exogenous environment, namely, the entrepreneurial ecosystem and individual drive.

The Post-entrepreneurial University: The Case for Resilience in Higher Education

Historically speaking, the university has been a highly resilient organizational form; however recent pressures to become entrepreneurial threaten the institutional foundations on which that reliance is based. The chapter first provides conceptual clarity by revisiting what we argue are two distinct schools of thought on the entrepreneurial university. We show how the economic school’s conception intertwines with the rise of New Public Management (NPM) in Europe in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reframing the concept in ways that made it incompatible with resilience thinking. However, we argue that by tying back into ‘lost’ elements of sociological school’s conception, and associating them with concepts from complex systems literature (loose coupling, slack, and requisite diversity), a hybrid model which is both resilient and entrepreneurial can be achieved. We call this the post-entrepreneurial university.

An Analysis of the Entrepreneurial University in the Faculties of Education in Spain: Self-Perception among Deans

Universities have increasingly incorporated a third mission into their strategic planning. In addition to teaching and research, they have emphasised the training of entrepreneurs. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, as this process is facing resistance. The Entrepreneurial University covers all disciplines, including faculties of education. However, it has been shown that entrepreneurship tends to be more related to the faculties of economics and engineering, with a lesser presence in the faculties of education for various reasons: they consider entrepreneurship to be alien to their teaching role, there is a lack of entrepreneurial culture, and the objective of the Entrepreneurial University is unknown. The aim of this study is to analyse the level of entrepreneurship in Spanish faculties and schools of education. Nineteen deans and heads of education faculties in Spain took part in the survey, and a mixed analysis has been done. The results indicated a sufficient level of entrepreneurship; the dimensions related to active methodologies, and mission and strategy were the most developed, whereas entrepreneurship funding and entrepreneurship training for faculty employees were the least developed areas. Some deans noted that entrepreneurship was alien to their professional performance, although courses and good practices for the development of entrepreneurial initiative are gradually being implemented.

Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation in the Academic Environment

The establishment of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the academic environment, through its basilar conceptual dimensions such as proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk-taking, has been the subject of relevant debate for academics, higher education managers, and policy-makers. In this context, this article aims to analyze the establishment of EO in the academic environment, pursuing an entrepreneurial university model. Thus, the strategy of multiple case studies was adopted, based on three universities: two in Brazil, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), and one in Sweden, the Lund University (LU). Results show that the EO established by the universities studied is seen in several times and in different ways through its conceptual dimensions, suitable to the academic context. The movements observed in the three cases researched show non-sporadic behaviors towards an entrepreneurial university model over time.