Considering University‐Business Cooperation Modes from the Perspective of Enterprises

Abstract

This article analyses enterprises’ engagement in university‐business cooperation (UBC) activities: research and development, mobility of academics and students, curriculum development and lifelong learning. It first provides an introductory overview of university‐business cooperation policy. It then presents a selection of UBC models, elements and processes that help to develop this area. In the second part, it introduces a UBC survey among enterprises in various European countries. With the survey, it first conceptualises an own research approach and, on this basis, studies the relations between UBC approaches and the processes, drivers, barriers, organisational characteristics and modes of cooperation. It explores which are the most practised UBC modes and the most important determinants. One of the key findings revealed that companies’ engagement in innovation departments supported all five modes of UBC under investigation. Other findings of the article suggest that national and European policies cannot uniformly address the development of various UBC modes. There are substantial differences between teaching‐ and research‐related activities. Integrating these two areas represents one of the biggest challenges with regard to orientating HE towards the world of work. It is related to the agreement on employers’ role in the overall development of graduates’ competencies and also on the future of academic teaching from the perspective of practical training.