Abstract
We provide a systematic review of the literature on academic engagement from 2011 onwards which was the cut-off year of a previous review in Research Policy. Academic engagement refers to knowledge-related interactions of academic scientists with external organizations, set apart from research, teaching and commercialization. It includes activities such as collaborative research with industry, contract research, consulting and informal ties. We consolidate what is known about the individual, organizational and institutional antecedents of academic engagement, and its consequences for research, commercialization, and society at large. Our findings suggest that individual characteristics associated with academic engagement include being scientifically productive, senior, male, locally trained, and commercially experienced. Academic engagement is also socially conditioned by peer effects and within applied disciplines. In terms of consequences, academic engagement is positively associated with academics’ subsequent scientific productivity. We also propose new areas of investigation where evidence is still inconclusive, including individual life cycles effects, the role of organizational context and incentives, cross-national comparison, and the impact of academic engagement on the quality of subsequent research as well as educational, commercial and society-wide impact.
Highlights
In 2013, as part of a wider team of authors, we published a review paper on academic engagement in this journal (Perkmann et al, 2013)
Academic engagement is positively correlated with mobilising research funding and resources
We noted a lack of standardisation of the definitions of academic engagement and scale formulation across studies, posing challenges to cross-study comparison
Summary
In 2013, as part of a wider team of authors, we published a review paper on academic engagement in this journal (Perkmann et al, 2013). Academic engagement refers to knowledge-related interactions by academic researchers with non-academic organisations, as distinct from teaching and commercialisation. These interactions include collaborative research, contract research and consulting as well as informal activities such as providing ad hoc advice and networking with practitioners. Academic engagement has continued to attract major interest from students of science and universities, and innovation more broadly. More than ever, it represents a focus of attention for universities and policy makers, as it is seen as a transmission mechanism for ensuring academic research has an impact on the economy and society (Bornmann, 2013; Martin, 2011). The UK government raised the incidence of the impact criterion in its evaluation of universities’ research strength. The EU's Horizon Europe programme, starting in 2021, proposes the creation of a European Innovation Council as a “one-stop shop for high potential and breakthrough technologies”.3 In the US, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in 2012, to facilitate faster development of treatments for disease.
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