TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to academic collaboration with industry and community: Individual and organisational factors
AU - Karlsdottir, Verena
AU - Torfason, Magnus Thor
AU - Edvardsson, Ingi Runar
AU - Heijstra, Thamar Melanie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - This article presents findings on factors hindering academic employees from becoming involved in collaboration activities. Based on survey data, we map out perceived barriers to collaboration whereby five categories emerge: teaching obligations, partner (dis)interest, partners’ resources, academic freedom, and university resources. By means of multiple regression analysis, we examine the extent to which individual, intra-, and inter-organisational factors explain these perceived barriers to collaboration. The study was carried out in Iceland, where university objectives are still heavily based on teaching activities, and few entrepreneurial activities take place in academia. Our results reveal that age and academic disciplines play a main role in the perceptions of academics regarding barriers to collaboration, especially when it comes to barriers grounded in teaching obligations or university resources. Most perceived barriers are based on the internal level that is lack of resources on behalf of universities. The study, therefore, provides a new perspective relative to earlier findings that have indicated that barriers to collaboration exist mostly at the individual level. We conclude that academic institutions can play a more prominent role in the activation of third mission activities than they have been doing so far.
AB - This article presents findings on factors hindering academic employees from becoming involved in collaboration activities. Based on survey data, we map out perceived barriers to collaboration whereby five categories emerge: teaching obligations, partner (dis)interest, partners’ resources, academic freedom, and university resources. By means of multiple regression analysis, we examine the extent to which individual, intra-, and inter-organisational factors explain these perceived barriers to collaboration. The study was carried out in Iceland, where university objectives are still heavily based on teaching activities, and few entrepreneurial activities take place in academia. Our results reveal that age and academic disciplines play a main role in the perceptions of academics regarding barriers to collaboration, especially when it comes to barriers grounded in teaching obligations or university resources. Most perceived barriers are based on the internal level that is lack of resources on behalf of universities. The study, therefore, provides a new perspective relative to earlier findings that have indicated that barriers to collaboration exist mostly at the individual level. We conclude that academic institutions can play a more prominent role in the activation of third mission activities than they have been doing so far.
KW - University-industry collaboration
KW - academic engagement
KW - barriers
KW - third mission
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222231173953
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162958674&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09504222231173953
DO - 10.1177/09504222231173953
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-4222
VL - 37
SP - 792
EP - 809
JO - Industry and Higher Education
JF - Industry and Higher Education
IS - 6
ER -