Abstract
There are many ways in which scientists can engage in entrepreneurial activities. The context of this article is a Swedish research group in marine ecology, which became increasingly involved in entrepreneurial activities. This article focuses on the what, why and how of entrepreneurship as part of an academic role. The study was conducted as an interactive research process, involving activities as well as interviewing participants in the project. Theories of identity work, role identity and passion were used to analyse this context. Two distinct but simultaneous processes were identified: first, when scientists engage in commercial entrepreneurial activities and react by reaffirming their roles as academics and, second, when scientists engage in entrepreneurial activities in a broad sense, fulfilling environmental and social goals (this is compatible with their scientific passion connected to their academic role identity). This article shows that scientists can be entrepreneurial while working with social and environmental responsibility with no conflict between their entrepreneurial activity and their role as an academic.
Highlights
The literature on academic entrepreneurship goes back to dilemmas elaborated by Stankiewicz concerning the tension between academic and commercial values (Stankiewicz, 1986) and the scientific ethos proposed by Robert K
We address the question of what, why and how entrepreneurial activities are compatible with an academic role
We aim to identify which types of entrepreneurial activities are compatible for these scientists with their academic role
Summary
The literature on academic entrepreneurship goes back to dilemmas elaborated by Stankiewicz concerning the tension between academic and commercial values (Stankiewicz, 1986) and the scientific ethos proposed by Robert K. Both these lines of thinking focus on differences between the academic system and the social and commercial systems. Later evidence has shown that most scientists can be entrepreneurial hybrids with strong industry engagement while keeping true to scientific norms (Lam, 2010) – suggesting a blurring of the lines between academic and non-academic norms. One widely discussed topic in academic entrepreneurship is the ‘entrepreneurial university’ (Clark, 1998), the literature on which encompasses studies of increased interactions with industry and intermediaries that encourage innovation and firm creation (Rothaermel et al, 2007). It has been suggested that the entrepreneurial university should adopt a broader conceptual model of entrepreneurship as a way to build skills and knowledge, complementing the dominant model of entrepreneurship with its focus on business creation and economic growth (Gibb, 2007)
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