ICSB Pre-conference

EC-OECD workshop on HEInnovate

11 June 2014
Dublin
Summary proceedings

Workshop structure
1. The Entrepreneuriual HEI a definition in progress

2. Current challenges & opportunities for HEIs

3. A debate around 3 questions
4. What support would be needed to employ HEInnovate as
an institutional change tool?

5. How to take HEI forward?

1. The Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institution

A working definition by A. Gibb (2013)
The entrepreneurial HEI is
designed to empower students and staff to demonstrate
enterprise, innovation and creativity in teaching, research
and third mission
its activities are directed to enhance learning, knowledge
production and exchange in a highly complex and changing
societal environment
as an organisation, it is dedicated to create public value via
processes of open engagement

2. Current challenges and opportunities for HEIs

1. Catching up with Mode2
2. Reorganising education
3. Dealing with unemployment and
underemployment of graduates
4. From why to how in promoting
entrepreneurship through education

2. Current challenges and opportunities for HEIs

5. Transitioning from knowledge transfer to
knowledge exchange
6. Internationalisation as Strategy

7. Handling financial stringency

8. From passive interdependence to active
stakeholder engagement

3 Questions
What makes an HEI entrepreneurial?
Why do we need entrepreneurial HEIs?
What are the main challenges that HEIs face in becoming
and being entrepreneurial HEIs?

What makes an HEI entrepreneurial?

Leader at the top who provides common vision, sets
institutional motion in place and has tolerance for
innovation coming from below
Show by examples, do not ask for permission but ask for
forgiveness -> need for a supportive structures to be put in
place to incorporate risks and enable bottom up changes
More interaction/osmosis between teaching and research
through co-construction results in the emergence of new,
dynamic knowledge
Entrepreneurial HEIs are dynamic, evolving institution
Incentivising the change of attitude is a big challenge

What makes an HEI entrepreneurial?

Introducing interdisciplinarity is inhibited by bureaucratic structures ->
more flexibility is needed
Reformers can create precedents and spearhead activities which
others can act upon
Business Schools have a remit in promoting entrepreneurship across
campus, but they do not own the agenda -> De-coupling
entrepreneurship from business schools and anchoring it cross-campus
People and their attitudes that reflect can and will do
Selected elite systems: entrepreneurship questions the limit of the
system. Should one hire or create the best? End of a system....
Developing E-Generation, Up-skilling and training the trainers and
entrepreneurs

What makes an HEI entrepreneurial?

Accreditation systems place significant pressures on HEIs
Change also happens because of the involvement of external
stakeholders (significant pressure on what is important).
Leadership might react more to external stakeholder
engagement than ideas/pressures from faculty
Single change agent is not enough, create groups working
together
Authorities react better to successful pilots
Structures in place for students to work in interdisciplinary
teams also on postgraduate projects

Why do we need entrepreneurial HEIs?

Higher education has changed, knowledge is everywhere, it is no
longer in the repository of single organisations or individuals
The importance of building a strong ecosystem through
collaboration, distance learning, exchange and mobility
React to a societal need (incl. employability) for more enterprising
individuals, think & act differently (e.g. education programmes for
employers)
Inspiring education programmes it is also professionally fulfilling
to see students flourish
To educate students who have new skills, are risk takers, and can
deal with ambiguity
It is fun

Main challenges that HEIs face in becoming

and being entrepreneurial
Mindsets of students (often risk averse) and academics fear
of failure
Accreditation of entrepreneurship education and student
performance assessment
The ownership structures related to IPR (e.g. start-ups)
Involvement of professors in engaging in students start-ups
and ventures vs conflict of interests
Motivation of students to take up extra activities
Step away from standard electives student peer grading
Assessment of risk-taking, failing

Main challenges that HEIs face in becoming

and being entrepreneurial
Need to build a good ecosystem
HEIs are regarded as safe spaces which makes them a choice
for many
Different levels of protection professors vs other staff,
students
Business models: Long term vision of the role of government
in funding
Scarce resources harmonisation of long term vision vs profit
oriented activities

4. What support would be needed to employ

HEInnovate as an institutional change tool?
Making available cases, which have succeeded to give
inspiration, library of examples of solutions to weaknesses, how
to act upon opportunities (videos)
Idea fund to support network and community building
Underline what is different about HEInnovate - USP, value added
of facilitation, F2F, real stories
Training for academics on how to influence policy makers,
investors on influencing strategies, advocacy, lobbying.
Building social capital for the entrepreneurial HEI How to
harness it?
Raise the profile of entrepreneurial learning, wider learning
impacts, requirement of different conditions, assessment

4. What support would be needed to employ

HEInnovate as an institutional change tool?
Developing a common understanding of what the entreprenurial
HEI means, building incentives for being part of it
Term/language get the message clear on its usefulness to get
senior management on board
Measuring impact inclusive vs superficial metrics; long terms
impact
Employability
Value of jobs
Start-ups
Alumni tracers, follow-up studies with cohorts
Ecosystem catering different stages of the life cycle of the
entrepreneurial firm

5. How to take HEInnovate forward?

Comparison with other HEIs
Data (combine self-assessment with survey), to build up
argumentation base for HEIs
Set of metrics for governments to measure the HEI,
communicate the message
Lack of consequence for a bad score might make influencing
change difficult -emphasise the benefits
Students perceptions should be captured
Seed funding for projects to start institutional change
Capitalise on the international knowledge of the EC and OECD
to put a good argument forward regarding the need for
entrepreneurial HEIs

Contacts
Georgi DIMITROV Georgi.DIMITROV@ec.europa.eu
Andrea-Rosalinde HOFER Andrea-rosalinde.HOFER@oecd.org
Zsuzsa Jvorka zsuzsa.JAVORKA@technopolis-group.com

www.

.eu