The influence of ten different motivational factors on academic entrepreneurial intentions

Abstract

Understanding what motivates academics to be involved in entrepreneurial activities could be crucial in technology transfer from academic organizations to industry. Using a data set of 547 academics employed at two different universities (University of Cambridge and University of Ljubljana), this study investigates (using multi-sample analysis and structural equation modeling) the impact of ten different motivational factors as predictors of academic entrepreneurial intentions. The following ten motivational factors were studied:(1) dissatisfaction with the academic environment, (2) desire for independence, (3) desire for safe and permanent employment, (4) desire for taking on and meeting broader responsibilities, (5) desire for wealth, (6) desire to bring technology into practice, (7) desire to disseminate findings through the scientific literature, (8) desire to do something others could not, (9) desire to pursue technological perfection, and (10) desire to secure additional research funding. The study's results show that desire for safe and permanent employment and desire to disseminate findings through the scientific literature have a negative significant influence on academic entrepreneurial intentions, while desire for independence, desire for taking on and meeting broader responsibilities, desire for wealth, and desire to bring technology to practice have a positive significant influence on academic entrepreneurial intentions.

The Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention of Young Researchers: Combining the Theory of Planned Behavior with the Triple Helix Model

“…The implications of the study are twofold: theoretical and practical. From a theoretical point of view, the conceptualizations proposed herein enlarge the existing body of academic entrepreneurship research (Fini, Grimaldi, and Sobrero ; Fryges and Wright ; Ozgul and Kunday ; Prodan and Drnovsek ; Prodan and Slavec ). First, this study analyzes multiple variables (which were previously studied only in isolation) using a unique multidimensional model and assesses their joint impact on AEI.…”

Toward broader impacts: Making sense of NSF's merit review criteria in the context of the National Science Digital Library

“…Universities increasingly rely on external grant funding to maintain their prestige (Macilwain, ) and, today, most scientific research is conducted at institutions of higher education (Anderson et al., ). Accordingly, academic researchers are under great pressure to secure funded research to maintain their positions (Prodan & Slavec, ) and contribute to their universities' missions (Meyer, ). Facing these imperatives, many information science researchers seek support from the NSF.…”