The Future of the University and the University of the Future: Evolution of Ivory Tower to Entrepreneurial Paradigm

Abstract

Considers the emerging "entrepreneurial university" as the center of knowledge production and analysis in a knowledge-based economy. As society and industry become more and more knowledge-based, the role of the university is shifting from academic development to the economic development tied to intellectual property. This "third mission" of the university - beyond the missions of teaching and research - has been highly contested by some critics who believe it takes away from the pursuit of education, particularly as a means of evaluating and critiquing society. Nevertheless, evidence shows that the entrepreneurial university is steadily gaining ground in the United States, as well as in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Using the "triple-helix" model (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 1999) of university-industry-government - in which knowledge plays a central rather than a subsidiary role - the university takes over the role of producer of knowledge from industry or the government. Hence, the university becomes the new, active center of innovation. The triple-helix model leads to institutionalized collaborations and initiatives between universities and the industrial and governmental spheres, which in turn leads to the creation of new, trilateral organizations and centralization within academia. The analysis concludes that various linkages across the university, government, and industry are changing the infrastructure of modern society, so that the university is, among other things, turning away from intellectual elitism to encompass mass industry. (CJC)

Keywords: Technology transfer, Knowledge production, Economic development, Economic impact, Institutional alliances, Colleges & universities, University-industry-government relations, Triple helix, Knowledge economies