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The Third Mission Among Nordic Universities: A Systematic Literature Review

September 2020
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 66(4):1-23

September 2020
66(4):1-23

DOI:10.1080/00313831.2020.1816577

Authors:

Verena Karlsdottir

University of Akureyri

Ingi Runar Edvardsson

University of Iceland

The aim of this article is to analyse the “Third Mission” (TM) of universities within Nordic countries and universitieś approach to implementing the mission into their strategy. The main activities that Nordic universities relate to the Third Mission are examined and policy implications drawn. Furthermore, gaps in literature are outlined that imply possible future research. The systematic literature review outlines 35 articles in the period from 2000 to 2018. Qualitative case studies have been the main research method so far, and about half of the research at Nordic universities has been conducted in Sweden. Most research has focused on commercial aspects of the Third Mission, but neglected social components and indirect, less visible activities such as popular-science publications or participation in policymaking. Little research regarding TM has been conducted in humanities or social sciences. For future research, more cross-national studies are needed, as well as research with a mixed-method research design.

Continued.

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Articles on academic entrepreneurship.

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Articles on Third Mission activities.

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The Third Mission Among Nordic Universities: A

Systematic Literature Review

Verena Schnurbus & Ingi Runar Edvardsson

To cite this article: Verena Schnurbus & Ingi Runar Edvardsson (2020): The Third Mission

Among Nordic Universities: A Systematic Literature Review, Scandinavian Journal of Educational

Research, DOI: 10.1080/00313831.2020.1816577

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The Third Mission Among Nordic Universities: A Systematic

Literature Review

Verena Schnurbus and Ingi Runar Edvardsson

School of Business, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to analyse the “Third Mission”(TM) of universities

within Nordic countries and universitieśapproach to implementing the

mission into their strategy. The main activities that Nordic universities

relate to the Third Mission are examined and policy implications drawn.

Furthermore, gaps in literature are outlined that imply possible future

research. The systematic literature review outlines 35 articles in the

period from 2000 to 2018. Qualitative case studies have been the main

research method so far, and about half of the research at Nordic

universities has been conducted in Sweden. Most research has focused

on commercial aspects of the Third Mission, but neglected social

components and indirect, less visible activities such as popular-science

publications or participation in policymaking. Little research regarding

TM has been conducted in humanities or social sciences. For future

research, more cross-national studies are needed, as well as research

with a mixed-method research design.

ARTICLE HISTORY

Received 8 November 2019

Accepted 24 August 2020

KEYWORDS

Third mission;

entrepreneurial university;

academic entrepreneurship;

regional development; triple

helix; policy

Introduction

Since the development of the Humboldtian model of higher education in the beginning of the nine-

teenth century when research and teaching were both combined under the roof of higher education

institutes, universities stand once more at a crossroads of fundamental change. The change is deter-

mined by modiﬁed legislation and policies that increasingly promote entrepreneurship at univer-

sities,

by higher internationalisation alongside with increased competition among institutes for

funding, and for excellent researchers and students. This is combined with enhanced emphasis on

knowledge production and innovation for regional growth (Zomer & Benneworth, 2011). At the

same time, local governments exert more pressure on universities to take active part in regional

development (Chatterton & Goddard, 2000). As a result, universities have begun to develop a

third mission alongside their ﬁrst and second mission of teaching and research. TM implies the inte-

gration of societal and entrepreneurial activities with the university concept in order to generate rev-

enue, and public and societal value through a heightened knowledge and technology transfer.

Due to the multi-dimensional characteristics of TM (Knudsen et al., 2019) there is still neither an

agreed deﬁnition of the concept nor a clear boundary between the ﬁrst and second mission (Greger-

sen et al., 2009). Some authors outline the importance of spin-oﬀcompanies and licensing and

patenting initiatives of universities as the main activities of TM (Mariani et al., 2018; Meyer,

2006; Shane, 2004), since their processes and outcomes are easy to track and to measure (Rothaermel

CONTACT Verena Schnurbus verena@hi.is

In this context the Bayh-Dole Act implemented 1980 in the US is often mentioned as a turning point. With this Act universities

were granted the rights to own intellectual property rights generated from public funding and thus to commercialise researchers’

inventions. Subsequently European legislation was changed in line with Bayh-Dole.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2020.1816577

et al., 2007). However, universities contribute to industry and society in ways which go beyond the

creation of spin-oﬀcompanies, licensing, or patenting (Nilsson et al., 2010). In general, TM under-

takings can be divided into for-proﬁt and non-proﬁt activities (Donatiello & Gherardini, 2018). For-

proﬁt activities refer to informal or formal engagements with industry, consulting and advisory roles

of academics, eﬀective use of research results through patenting, licensing or company creation.

Conversely, non-proﬁt activities encompass policy development, entrepreneurship education for

students or researchers, or contributions to the community in multiple ways such as lifelong learning

pursuits or creating links between universities and vocational schools (Cervantes, 2017). As part of

TM universities are, along with external organisations within industry and government, forming a

triadic alliance, often referred to as a “Triple-Helix complex”(Etzkowitz, 1983). This alliance ensures

the better execution of common goals when it comes to regional development and growth, and the

formation of regional innovation systems. Consequently, the funding model of public universities in

many European countries has gradually shifted towards a mixture of public-private funding, after

those academic institutions had largely been state-funded for a long time (Marginson & Rhoades,

2002).

In order to implement and follow TM at universities it is not enough to set up physical structures

such as technology transfer oﬃces (TTO) or science parks, but universities need to embed TM into

their general strategy and link it with primary missions of research and teaching. Until now only a

few studies have focused on strategies of TM and integration into its fundamental missions of

research and teaching (Hellström, 2007; Nelles & Vorley, 2010). Other studies are often limited to

the incorporation of either innovation or knowledge transfer activities into the university concept,

but do not provide an overall insight into TM activities (Giuri et al., 2019; Vico et al., 2017).

This article examines diﬀerent approaches of universities in Nordic countries to give an overview

as to how universities in a speciﬁc region develop and integrate TM into their university structure

and policy. Choosing Nordic countries as a research area is based on the development of the Nordic

model of the welfare state with the national higher education system as part of that model. According

to the model, the main principles of education are public and free access to education and indepen-

dent educational institutions aiming to provide equal opportunities for all (Nord, 2002). As a con-

sequence, tertiary education participation in the Nordic countries is nowadays among the highest in

the world ranging from 50% to 70% of the total population, with a large number of PhD-student

intakes yearly (Maassen, 2012). Furthermore, the establishment of higher education institutes in

less populated areas gives more people the opportunity for education, especially outside capital

areas, and promotes social, economic, and cultural development in individual regions (Weller,

2002). The education systems of the Nordic countries are well-ﬁnanced thus supporting one of

the main aims of the state; that is, to protect “the population against some of the downsides of market

competition”(Elken et al., 2016, p. 782). Even though the Nordic education systems appear to be

very similar and Nordic universities are often seen as innovative leaders throughout the world,

there can be immense diﬀerences between countries when it comes to the implementation of strat-

egies. Gornitzka and Maassen (2011) argue that due to “national ﬁlters”, where global university

reforms are adapted under speciﬁc national government structures with diﬀerent research policies

and excellence initiatives, educational structures within Nordic countries become more diﬀerentiated

from each other. As a consequence, the development and implementation of TM happens under

diﬀerent premises. Considering TM in the Nordic countries in this context provides a useful indi-

cation of how universities in countries with a similar understanding of educational policies apply

diﬀerent strategies and overcome the challenges of structural university changes. Based on these con-

siderations, the main objective of the study is to analyse the TM of universities within Nordic

countries and their approach to implementing its mission into their university strategy. The follow-

ing research questions are set up to conduct and direct the literature review:

.Which studies have been conducted that focus on the strategy of the Third Mission in Nordic

universities and what is the main emphasis of these studies?

2V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

.What are the main activities Nordic universities relate towards the Third Mission?

.Which policy implications can be drawn from the literature review?

.Which gaps are there in the literature which imply possible future research?

To answer the research questions a systematic literature review is conducted which allows the

inclusion of relevant research on TM carried out at Nordic universities.

Research Methodology

The systematic literature review follows the principles of Jesson et al. (2011).

Developing a Search Strategy

In the ﬁrst phase of the literature review the term “Third Mission”and its equivalents were mapped

through a scoping review. Hereby, appropriate research questions were developed, concepts and

ideas identiﬁed, and key words determined. According to the research questions, the concept

“Third Mission”served as a starting point in the process. The concept can be represented almost

synonymously by several other terms such as “third stream activity/ies”,“entrepreneurial mission”,

or “fourth mission”. The term “third dimension”could not ﬁnd support in literature. Likewise,

phenomena implying TM activities such as spin-oﬀ, patenting, contract research, or similar events

were not considered in the search strategy as they were too subject-speciﬁc leading to too many

results. The term “university”is often used interchangeably with “higher education institute”,“aca-

demia”,“college”,“polytechnic”or “graduate school”. However, the term “university”is most com-

monly used in the research ﬁeld, especially in a European context. Adding the term “polytechnic”to

the search strategy did not reveal further results. The key terms were combined by applying the Boo-

lean search operators OR and AND, and the truncation character (*) was used to retrieve variations

on search terms. The following combination of terms was adopted for all searches: “third mission”

OR “fourth mission”OR “third stream activiti*”OR “third objective”OR “third task”OR “entrepre-

neurial mission”,AND“universit*”. Furthermore, in order to limit the geographical scope to articles

from Nordic countries, searches included a variation of following countries or regions: Denmark,

Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Scandinavia, and Nordics.

Undertaking Systematic Searches

In the second phase of the literature review several databases were systematically searched. Research

concerning the TM of universities is not only found in disciplines of social science such as manage-

ment and education, but also in, for example, engineering or natural science. Therefore, it was essen-

tial to use diﬀerent databases and to search broadly. For this literature review three databases –

ProQuest, Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus –were used to ensure inclusion of articles across

diﬀerent disciplines. Through restriction of subject (ProQuest), research area (WOS), or subject

area (Scopus) the search area could be narrowed to literature related to the research topic. Excluded

subjects or research areas were for instance medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, and some

other natural sciences. As the concept “Third Mission”slowly started to develop in the early 2000s

the year 2000 was chosen as the initial year for the systematic literature search (Etzkowitz, 2003,

2004).

The systematic search resulted in 803 hits in the database ProQuest, 191 in WOS, and 778 hits in

Scopus. All references were transferred and merged into the reference management software End-

note. Duplicates were eliminated as well as articles with a diﬀerent research topic than TM in a uni-

versity context. Finally, 439 articles remained eligible for further investigation.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 3

Evaluating Articles

As a next step, articles were screened and ﬁltered using the following eight inclusion and exclusion

criteria: University context as unit of analysis, research from Nordic countries, empirically based

articles, research results relating to regions and countries, publications in English language, publi-

cations after the year 1999, peer-reviewed articles, and articles published in ProQuest, Scopus

and/or Web of Science. The screening process consisted of two steps. First, only titles and abstracts

of all articles were read to make a ﬁrst selection based on the deﬁned criteria. Thus 49 articles

remained which were thoroughly read and again screened in more detail against the criteria. In

the end 35 articles were available for the systematic literature review.

Research Findings: Classiﬁcation

Descriptive Analysis

In the following section, descriptive ﬁndings from the systematic literature review are presented

using a model adapted from Centobelli et al. (2018).

Publication Year and Research Methodology

As the backward range of the literature search was limited to the year 2000, the publication of articles

spans a period of over 18 years. Only three articles were published before 2008. This gives evidence of

a growing importance of the research ﬁeld in the current decade. The number of published articles

has grown signiﬁcantly since 2015, reaching a peak in 2017 with 11 published articles.

Most articles, or a total of 25, had a qualitative research approach, where single or multiple-case

studies based on analysis of interviews and documents were most frequent. Only four recent publi-

cations (2013, 2015, 2017, 2017) included mixed research designs and six articles had a quantitative

approach. The mixed method designs combined data from statistical oﬃces or surveys with inter-

views, participant observations, focus groups, or document analysis. Quantitative research methods

were mostly used from the year 2010 onwards and were primarily based on survey data from aca-

demic researchers or statistics on funding, academic research output and patents.

University, Region and Country

Case studies were often based on single universities or regions. The following universities were most

often explicitly mentioned in the research design: Chalmers University (6 articles), University of

Agder (4), Lund University (3), and University of Southern Denmark (2). In the context of regional

development some research articles emphasised speciﬁc regions rather than single universities, for

example the region Agder in Southern Norway was mentioned in numerous articles.

Multiple case studies had either a cross-regional or a cross-national research approach. The

research in 11 articles was based on cross-national studies including countries situated outside the

Nordic region. These were countries such as Czech Republic, USA, or UK. As this article has the

aim of identifying diﬀerences between Nordic countries, it does not focus on other areas. Therefore,

articles on cross-national studies are only used to obtain more information on single Nordic

countries valuable for the analysis, but research results from countries that do not belong to the

research scope are not considered.

Only one study exists where universities of two Nordic countries were chosen for a multiple case

study (Mets, 2010). Sweden –with 18 published articles –is by far the leading country in the research

ﬁeld of TM, followed by Norway with 6 articles, Denmark and Finland (5 articles each), and Iceland (1).

Journals and Disciplines

Articles were published in various journals, mostly with a thematic focus on management, education,

policy, or technology. The largest number of articles were published in the following journals: Higher

Education Policy (6), Journal of Technology Transfer (5), and Science and Public Policy (5 articles).

4V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Main cited authors were Etzkowitz and Clark. Both ﬁrst coined the term of an “Entrepreneurial Uni-

versity”–in this context the “Third Mission”and the “Triple Helix”–and later further developed

these concepts (e.g., Clark, 1998; Etzkowitz, 1983).

Research Findings: Content Analysis

For the content analysis the articles were critically analysed according to their research focus, main

TM activities, policy implications and research gaps.

Focus of Studies

The research articles reveal four diﬀerent research foci: academic entrepreneurship/commercialisa-

tion of research, development of an entrepreneurial university/implementation of TM, regional

development and policies, and TM activities.

Ten articles can be classiﬁed under academic entrepreneurship and commercialisation of

research. All articles except one are based on research among Swedish universities. Under this

topic TM is primarily seen as a commercialisation of research results, with the intention of reinfor-

cing applied research within universities. The objective of most of the research articles is to reveal

under which conditions academics engage in entrepreneurial or commercial activities regarding

individual incentive and motivational structures at universities (Fogelberg & Lundqvist, 2013; Hen-

rekson & Rosenberg, 2001), the inﬂuence of social and human capital (Karlsson & Wigren, 2012),

organisational culture and climate (Huyghe & Knockaert, 2015), and key determinants to engage

in commercialisation such as perceived role of the university, supportive infrastructure, industrial

actor set-up and networks (Nilsson et al., 2010). Three articles deal with the eﬀect of researchers’

involvement in TM activities on research performance (Bourelos et al., 2012; Mejlgaard & Ryan,

2017), and one on teaching (Holmen & Ljungberg, 2015). Two articles discuss alternative ways of

academic entrepreneurship where the university researcher does not directly take an active part in

the commercialisation process but either with the help of alumni, university support intermediaries

or companies (Berggren, 2017; Dahlborg et al., 2017).

Most articles, or a total of 13, relate to the shift of universities towards an entrepreneurial univer-

sity and the implementation of TM as part of this trend. Here, the TM is regarded as a means to

realise entrepreneurial endeavours of universities, and to strengthen innovation, collaboration and

networks outside academia. Articles under this topic have been published throughout the Nordic

countries and are mostly based on single or cross-regional case studies. Two articles investigate

aspects of institutionalising TM where the acceptance and legitimisation of TM activities within uni-

versities is crucial to avoid internal tensions (Benneworth et al., 2015; Vakkuri, 2004). In this context

Callagher et al. (2015) analyse how public, or external, stakeholders evaluate universities’expanded

role in society and how TM gains social acceptance.

Most research emphasises the importance of internal processes and factors that spur the move

towards an entrepreneurial university rather than merely copying best practices from other univer-

sities. These factors are university culture and history (Gregersen et al., 2009; Hellström et al., 2013;

Pålsson et al., 2009), management strategies and incentive schemes (Vico et al., 2017), and internal

entrepreneurship support initiatives such as venture funds and entrepreneurship education (Mar-

kuerkiaga et al., 2016). Engaged key individuals, for example entrepreneurship students or alumni

are essential in the process as they act as matchmakers connecting people and resources and can

have a strong inﬂuence on the organisational culture (Berggren, 2011). The transformation into

an entrepreneurial university is not only an internally driven process based on infrastructural and

cultural changes; it also depends on innovations in research policy at national level (Jacob et al.,

2003). Policies and initiatives set up by the state in Nordic countries are, however, described as

being modest, and transformation is rather a bottom-up than a top-down process (Etzkowitz

et al., 2008). However, research reveals the need for more public resources being allocated towards

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 5

TM complementary to allocation to the two other missions (Gregersen et al., 2009). The TM “still

represents a zone for negotiations”and is as yet subordinated to research and teaching in university

strategy plans (Sataoen, 2018). To endow entrepreneurship with a higher status at universities, Mets

(2010) proposes to implement a business model concept that links education, research and

entrepreneurship.

Another important research topic among the articles is regional development which is covered in

eight articles. Norway features six articles under this topic and the region Agder and its same-named

university is extensively researched in ﬁve articles. All the articles from Norway were published in the

journal Higher Education Policy in the year 2017. These articles are based on a Norwegian and Czech

research group; the research was funded by the Norwegian and Czech government. Research on

regional development monitors the direct contribution of universities to their immediate environ-

ment through TM. In this context Benneworth et al. (2017) describe the TM as a “regional mission”.

The TM is here seen as a direct contribution to regional development and its residents and diﬀerent

models to realise regional development are discussed (Trippl et al., 2015). Research from Finnish

universities of applied sciences shows that the regional component of a TM is mostly present in

the increased linkage of teaching and R&D (Kohtamäki, 2015). Examples from Norway indicate

that universities’role in regional development is mostly through the mission of teaching (Karlsen

et al., 2017) with lifelong learning activities as part of the TM (Šmídová et al., 2017). Factors that

inﬂuence regional engagement are diﬀerent disciplinary cultures at universities and diﬀerent regional

demand for knowledge from these disciplines (Šima et al., 2017). Regional development is often dri-

ven by local government in order to stimulate regional innovation and entrepreneurship by setting

up TTOs, research and innovation programmes, and funding mechanisms (Pinheiro et al., 2017).

One article emphasises the importance of universities as leaders in the region, especially when it

comes to regional sustainability (Lehmann et al., 2009).

Four articles could not be allocated to the above-mentioned topics; these analyse the implemen-

tation of speciﬁc TM activities which are university-business cooperation (Ranga et al., 2016), entre-

preneurship education (Mandrup & Jensen, 2017), science parks (Steinthorsson et al., 2017), and the

interaction between university research and society (Esko et al., 2012).

Third Mission Activities

In the analysed articles the terms of “Third Mission”and “Academic Entrepreneurship”are often

used interchangeably and not all authors make a clear distinction between the two terms. This

becomes evident when looking at deﬁnitions of TM and classiﬁcation of TM activities (Tables 1–4).

Some authors adopt a deﬁnition from other authors, whereas others supply their own deﬁnition or

do not explicitly deﬁne the terms in their article. Many deﬁnitions of TM contain main buzz words

relating to the public and/or society, which gives evidence of a strengthened emphasis on involving

the general public in a university mission. Some authors only include social aspects in their under-

standing of a TM such as “contribution to regional development”(Trippl et al., 2015)or“diﬀusing

knowledge and value to society”(Nilsson et al., 2010). However, when considering TM activities,

they involve mostly commercial or economic aspects but fewer factors unrelated to the ﬁnancial

gain of universities but bringing a direct beneﬁt to society. Thus, there is often a gap between the

deﬁnition and the actual execution of a TM within universities since social aspects or activities

receive less attention. One reason might be that social activities are less visible and therefore also

hard to follow up and to measure. Other authors deﬁne TM more narrowly, preferring to see it

as a mission which beneﬁts the surrounding community or region as a contribution to regional

growth and development.

It has already become clear that deﬁning the TM leads to diﬀerent conclusions. Therefore, it is no

surprise that a variety of TM activities are mentioned by the authors, depending on their understand-

ing of TM and the emphasis of their study. Most authors mention commercialisation as the main TM

concern, encompassing any activity which generates revenue for universities and/or researchers such

6V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Table 1. Articles on development of entrepreneurial university.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities

Methodology and

data Unit of analysis Findings

Jacob et al.

(2003)

Providing a bottom up view of

the transformation process

of a Swedish university.

Informing the public about

research and actively co-

operating with other

actors in the society to

determine research goals

and problems.

Commercialisation (e.g.,

custom-made further

education courses,

consultancy services) and

commodiﬁcation of

knowledge (e.g., patents,

licensing, start-ups)

Qualitative: single

case study

Sweden:

Chalmers

University

The development into an

entrepreneurial university is not

a policy outcome but an

internally driven process and

takes several years.

Commercialisation and

commodiﬁcation of knowledge

creates role uncertainty for

universities.

Vakkuri (2004) Examining institutional

change in universities from

the perspective of the

notion of “boundaries”.

Research outreach and

research network

building.

Commercialisation, university

centres

Qualitative: document

analysis

Finland Finnish universities are

increasingly seen as facilitators

of regional economic growth.

Etzkowitz et al.

(2008)

Analysing the transition to the

entrepreneurial university as

part of a broader shift to a

knowledge-based economy.

TM as part of understanding

the entrepreneurial

university: innovation,

collaborative

relationships.

Firm formation, other

technology transfer activities

Qualitative: multiple

cross-national case

studies

Sweden, US,

Japan, Brazil

Diﬃcult for academics to meet

additional level of third mission.

Most IP ﬂows through informal

relationships. Presence of a

strong research potential and

strong R&D potential of local/

regional ﬁrms is an important

prerequisite.

Gregersen

et al. (2009)

Analyse current TM

experiences from two

younger Danish universities.

Contributing directly and

indirectly to society.

Public debates, patents, spin-

outs, student projects, Career

Centre, entrepreneurship

education, technology

transfer company

Qualitative: two cross-

regional case

studies

Denmark: SDU,

Aalborg

University

TM activities become more

strategic, universities copying

best practices from each other,

diﬀerence exists in interaction

with society among scientiﬁc

disciplines.

(Continued)

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 7

Table 1. Continued.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities

Methodology and

data Unit of analysis Findings

Pålsson et al.

(2009)

Exploring the dual

expectations of universities

of being anchored

regionally by direct service

to the local/regional

community and of operating

on a global scale.

Performing services to

society and operating on a

global scale.

TTO, stakeholder cooperation,

life-long learning,

commercialisation research

ﬁndings

Qualitative: two cross-

regional case

studies

Sweden: Lund

University,

Växjö

University

Universities use their comparative

advantage diﬀerently, either

they focus on research or

education (depending on

history, size or regional

economy).

Mets (2010) Exploring knowledge creation,

especially patented

intellectual property (IP)

created by university staﬀ

targeted to commercialise.

Economic and social

development mission

serving society.

TTO, patenting,

commercialisation fulﬁlled by

interaction between

universities and industry

Quantitative:

descriptive statistics

based on e.g.,

number of

researchers,

funding of R&D, ISI

publication, patents

Five European

universities in:

Sweden,

Finland, Estonia

and the

Netherlands

Entrepreneurship can be seen as a

leading domain in shaping

research orientation. Swedish

professors’privilege IP regime

strongly supports academic

inventing and patenting. As a

result, the share of patent-

protected IP among research

results is highest in Swedish

universities.

Berggren

(2011)

Describing how the

development of an

entrepreneurial university

contributes to the

commercialisation of

research.

Informing the public about

university activities and

cooperating with actors in

society.

Commercialisation, UIC, alumni

cooperation

Qualitative: single

case study

Sweden:

Chalmers

University of

Technology

A few early pioneers were key

individuals for setting a standard

of interaction with society and

for the development of best

practice in the innovation

support system.

Hellström et al.

(2013)

Investigating how TM

activities at universities are

anchored in organisational

structures and practices.

Integrating innovation

agenda with ﬁrms and

other public sector bodies.

All types of activities in which

universities engage with the

public outside of academia

including non-commercial

types of knowledge transfer

Mixed research: two

cross-regional case

studies (participant

observation, focus

groups, interviews,

survey)

Sweden When increasing TM activities

organisational change should

not be in the foreground.

Culture and history of university

are signiﬁcant for a local mission

Benneworth

et al. (2015)

Examining how TM can be

meaningfully

institutionalized given the

pressures on university

managers to focus on other

areas.

Universities’societal roles. Collaboration, patenting,

popular publications

Qualitative: single

case study

Sweden: Sjöstad

University

Internal tensions arose when

management systems

attempted to impose uniform

ideal behaviours through diverse

academic communities.

8V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Callagher et al.

(2015)

Providing new insights into

the tensions of managing

the complex

relationship between the

entrepreneurial university

and society.

Producing knowledge that

can bring value to the

public, ﬁrms, and

nongovernmental

organisations.

Commercial activities, including

patenting, licensing, spin-oﬀs,

consulting; establishing TTOs,

science parks, business

incubators

Qualitative: content

analysis of media

data

Denmark, New

Zealand

There are boundaries as to how far

changes towards entrepreneurial

university are currently accepted

by the society.

Markuerkiaga

et al. (2016)

Examining what comprises an

entrepreneurial university

by looking at external and

institutional

entrepreneurship support

factors.

Direct contribution to

society and economic

development.

Academic entrepreneurship

activities (spin-oﬀformation,

patenting and licensing,

collaborative research,

industry training courses,

consulting, industry mobility,

networking)

Quantitative: survey,

response rate: 24.48

(Descriptive

analysis, regression

analysis)

Northern and

Southern

Europe: 241

Northern and

Southern

European

universities

North European universities have a

signiﬁcantly more supportive

institutional and industrial

context. Better results regarding

internal entrepreneurship

support mechanisms, deﬁned

strategy on entrepreneurship,

university funds for

entrepreneurship,

entrepreneurship education.

Vico et al.

(2017)

Investigating how the

knowledge triangle

(linkages between research,

education and innovation) is

manifested in the

organisation and strategy of

universities.

Innovation at universities. Innovations, collaborations Qualitative: cross-

regional case

studies

Sweden: Lund

University,

Chalmers

University and

Malmö

University

Explicit national policies are

lacking, with the responsibility of

integration falling upon

universities themselves. Great

diversity in how the principles of

the knowledge triangle are

orchestrated at the universities.

Sataoen (2018) Improve understanding of TM

by employing boundary

object theory.

Engaging with communities

and businesses outside

university context.

Popular-science publications,

continuing education classes,

alumni programmes,

commercialisation attempts,

technology transfer,

patenting, industry

collaboration

Qualitative: content

analysis of strategic

plans

Norway TM is mostly ﬂexibly interpreted, in

most strategic plans regional

and local interaction are central,

as well as focussing on

innovation. TM still represents a

zone for negotiations.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 9

Table 2. Articles on regional development.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities Methodology and data Unit of analysis Findings

Lehmann

et al. (2009)

Exploring roles and contributions

of universities and

academia in regional

sustainability initiatives.

Outreach or

engagement in

order to signify a

two-way

interaction, learning

and ﬂow of

knowledge.

Contribution in public debates,

taking part in multi-stakeholder

networks and clusters

Qualitative: single case

study

Denmark:

Aalborg

University

Regions are the key to sustainable

development, therefore

universities’active contribution

to regional development is vital.

Kohtamäki

(2015)

Investigating how TM through

teaching and R&D at Finnish

universities of applied sciences

is inﬂuenced by the structural

development policy.

Interaction between

higher education

institutions and the

surrounding society.

Involving external stakeholders in

development of teaching and

R&D, participating as board

member, UIC, practical training

for students, classroom visits

from industry representatives

Qualitative: multiple case

study with four

universities of applied

science (interviews) and

electronic survey

Finland TM is facilitated by exerting

eﬀorts to link teaching and R&D,

but R&D is not as strongly

institutionalized as is the

teaching function.

Trippl et al.

(2015)

Providing a framework for

analysing universities’

contributions to regional

economic and societal

development.

Contribution to

regional

development.

Commercialisation through spin-

oﬀs, patents, licensing;

collaborative & contract

research, consulting, ad hoc

advice, networking;

contributions relating to social,

political and civic roles

Qualitative: document

analysis

Sweden, UK,

Austria

Policy institutions in Sweden

privilege the regional

innovation system model, with

increasing support for the

entrepreneurial university

model.

Benneworth

et al. (2017)

Exploring the ways in which

national higher education

policies frame the strategic

latitude that universities enjoy

to engage with regional

partners in teaching and

research activities.

Delivering societal

beneﬁts.

Regional activities: regional

research, engaging with

regional partners in teaching

and research activities,

publications in local language,

applied research activities

Qualitative: two cross-

national case studies

Norway,

(University of

Agder), Czech

Republic

Regional engagement is

squeezed at every stage as

universities seek to implement

national directives whilst

remaining true to their regional

roots. Policies are overlooking

that universities are place-

speciﬁc organisations and

intertwined in various ways into

their regions. Mission overload

emerges in the translations in

missions that take place

between diﬀerent

organisational levels.

Karlsen et al.

(2017)

Examining the role of

universities in peripheral

regions and their practices.

Interactions between

higher education

institutions and

external

organisations in

private, public,

voluntary sector.

UIC, decentralised education Qualitative: multiple cross-

national and cross-

regional case study

Norway

(University of

Agder,

Finnmark

University

College), Czech

Republic

HEIs engage in their host regions

through their primary mission

of teaching. Peripheral regions

diﬀer from other regions, and

they do not necessarily ﬁt the

normative models developed

from studies of core regions.

10 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

However, national policies can

create regional tensions.

Pinheiro et al.

(2017)

Comparing policy approaches in

Norway and the Czech

Republic regarding TM.

Purposive eﬀorts by

university actors to

address issues of

relevance to society.

TTO, UIC, applied research,

publication in local language,

lifelong learning activities

Qualitative: process

tracing of qualitative

datasets

Norway, Czech

Republic

Policies resulted in consolidation

(fewer and larger HEIs),

convergence (towards a unitary

model centred on research-

intensive universities), and

global excellence with limited

attention being paid to local

engagement. Policies have

focused on economic rather

than societal imperatives, with

research excellence (national

R&D methodology, R&D

research centres).

Šima et al.

(2017)

Exploring how a diversity of

disciplinary cultures within a

single university aﬀects

institutional eﬀorts to develop

overarching strategic

knowledge exchange

infrastructures.

Providing societal

contributions.

Technology transfer, knowledge

exchange, co-creation

infrastructures, external

lecturers at universities, science

parks, joint R&D activities,

development of a course or

seminars to external

stakeholders

Qualitative: two cross-

national case studies.

Norway (Agder

University),

Czech Republic

Four mechanisms by which

disciplinary mix and norms

aﬀect institutionalisation of

universities’regional interfaces:

1. Path dependency

2. Academic activities directed

by university leadership

3. Absence of strong regional

demand for knowledge from

disciplines 4. Grounded in vital

networks of diﬀerent actors

from university, business, local

authorities.

Šmídová et al.

(2017)

Analysing strategic approaches

toward institutionalisation of

lifelong learning in HEIS in

relation to regional

development.

Contribution to build

regional human

capital.

Lifelong learning activities as part

of regional development

Mixed research: cross-

country and cross-

regional comparison.

Content analysis, semi-

structured interviews,

national data from

statistical oﬃces,

international surveys

Norway (Agder

region), Czech

Republic

Oscillation between the human

capital and the open society

models is visible. The

Norwegian HE system is still

designed to be closer to the

open society model, “for all who

want,”without emphasizing

any speciﬁc group. There is little

interconnection between

region and HEI about a strategic

approach toward LLL. The HEIs

have to cope with many

missions where just a small

space exists for LLL.

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 11

Table 3. Articles on academic entrepreneurship.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities Methodology and Data Unit of Analysis Findings

Henrekson

and

Rosenberg

(2001)

Identifying strategic individual

decisions involved when

educational choice is

translated into science-

based entrepreneurship.

Communicating to the

surrounding society

results emanating from

university research and

how they can be

applied.

Commercialisation of research

through UIC; six forms of UIC:

contract research, industry

consulting, university

employed contact

secretaries who act as

mediators, joint research

institutes, start-ups, ﬁnancial

and advisory aid

Qualitative: two cross-

national case studies

Sweden, US Despite large levels of R&D

spending and comprehensive

government support schemes,

science-based

entrepreneurship has been far

less important in Sweden

compared to the US.

Weaknesses in the Swedish

incentive structure: rate of

return to human capital

investment, incentives to

become an entrepreneur,

insuﬃcient incentives within

the university system to adjust

curricula and research budgets

to outside demand.

Nilsson et al.

(2010)

Investigation as to why and

how scientists choose to

commercialise their research

Diﬀusing knowledge and

value to society.

Commercialisation of research,

e.g., spin oﬀ

Qualitative: seven

longitudinal multiple

case studies

Sweden: three major

Swedish stem cell

research centres

in Stockholm,

Gothenburg, Lund

Key researchers and their teams

contribute to companiesin

ways that would not be visible

by licensing or spin-oﬀdata.

Ways in which, and reasons

why, academic research is

transfused into society are

much more diverse and multi-

faceted.

Bourelos

et al.

(2012)

Examining the

complementarities of

research performance,

networks and support

structure in explaining

commercialisation amongst

university researchers in

science and engineering in

Sweden.

Collaboration between

universities, on the one

hand, and private

industry and the public

sector, on the other.

Consultancy,

commercialisation (start-up

companies)

Quantitative: online

survey, sample: 1,219

researchers at

Swedish universities,

response rate: 24.2%

Sweden Academics have positive

attitudes to commercialisation

and relatively satisfactory

commercialisation output.

Commercialisation, measured

as patents and start-up

companies, is positively

correlated with research

performance (publishing), the

use of TTOs, courses taken in

the ﬁelds of entrepreneurship

and commercialisation, and

the use of incubators. More

contact (and experience) with

companies helps researchers

to act as academic

12 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

entrepreneurs and possibly

also to be better researchers.

Karlsson and

Wigren

(2012)

Investigating TM activities

between university

employees and surrounding

society in Sweden, especially

how legitimacy, social and

human capital inﬂuence the

employees’start-up

propensity.

Encouraging activities

between university

employees and the

surrounding society.

Communication of research to

the general public,

cooperation in research with

external actors (public or

non-public),

commercialisation of

research (e.g., patenting,

licensing, starting new

ventures), cooperation with

external actors for better

education (e.g., inviting

guest lecturers).

Quantitative: national

survey among 7260

university employees

at the beginning of

2007 from 31

Swedish higher

education institutes,

response rate: 52%

Sweden Older individuals with a higher

level of human capital,

measured as level of

education, are less likely to

start ﬁrms. Further, people

with more social capital, such

as contact with external

product development teams

are more likely to start new

ﬁrms. The start-up propensity

is signiﬁcantly inﬂuenced by

eﬀects of popular science

publications.

Fogelberg

and

Lundqvist

(2013)

Exploring how researchers in

leading roles relate to the

integration of academic and

entrepreneurial roles in the

ﬁeld of nanotechnology.

Collaborating with

society and developing

utility from research

results.

Technology transfer (TTO) Qualitative: single case

study

Sweden: Chalmers

University

Researchers positive about the

build-up of internal support

for patenting and licensing.

However, they were agreeable

to integrating roles only if

given reasonable control of

the circumstances of this

integration process.

Holmen and

Ljungberg

(2015)

Investigating the perception of

academics regarding how

their experiences from

societal interaction (TM)

inform their teaching and

vice versa.

Interacting with and

beneﬁting society other

than the two traditional

university missions of

research and

education.

Consulting, entrepreneurship,

public lectures

Qualitative: phone

survey of 50 Swedish

academics in three

engineering-related

disciplines

Sweden Perceived positive and

bidirectional relationship

between societal interaction

and teaching. Industry-related

activities were perceived to

inform teaching more than

other types of societal

interaction.

Huyghe and

Knockaert

(2015)

Understanding how

organisational characteristics

aﬀect research scientists’

entrepreneurial intentions,

especially the impact of

university culture and

climate on entrepreneurial

intentions.

Commercialisation of

research results.

Commercialisation of research

results: spin-oﬀcreation,

intellectual property rights,

industry-science interaction

Mixed research: cross-

sectional data

collected in 2012:

face-to-face

interviews with

technology transfer

oﬃcers, online

survey: 8,857

research scientists

(5,418

Swedish), response

Sweden, (Chalmers

University of

Technology,

Gothenburg

University, Mälardalen

University, Halmstad

University, KTH Royal

Institute of

Technology), Germany

Elements of organisational

culture (university mission,

presence of role models,

organisational climate, reward

system) have an important

eﬀect on research scientists’

entrepreneurial intentions.

Formal versus informal

commercialisation activities

have diﬀerent determinants.

(Continued)

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 13

Table 3. Continued.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities Methodology and Data Unit of Analysis Findings

rate: 11%, eligible for

analysis: 5.6%

Berggren

(2017)

Exploring and visualising

alternative ways –how and

by whom –in which

academic research can come

into commercial use by

visualising less obvious

channels of commercialising.

Bringing academic

research into

commercial use.

Commercialisation of

academic research (spin-oﬀ,

patenting, licensing),

academic engagement

(collaboration such as

university-industry alliances)

Qualitative: single case

study

Sweden: Chalmers

University of

Technology

Importance of academic

research coming into use in

society, but by whom it was

exploited was considered of

less importance. Alumni

already present in the

university network are main

receivers and beneﬁciaries of

knowledge transfer from

Chalmers.

Dahlborg

et al.

(2017)

Developing a framework that

covers patent transfers, and

also includes the possibility

of longitudinally identifying

innovators involved in

commercialisation of

academic patents.

Academic

commercialisation.

Technology transfer such as

patenting, spin-oﬀs,

commercialisation, UIC

Quantitative:

quantitative data

analysis of all patents

ﬁled by researchers

at KI over the period

1995–2010

Sweden: Karolinska

Institutet

The framework distinguishes

between patents transferred

through the eﬀorts of the

researchers themselves

(autonomous mode), through

university support

intermediaries (bridge mode)

or via companies (corporate

mode). A majority of the

patented inventions are

transferred from the inventors

to outside-of-academe

entities. Small and medium-

sized companies are the

largest absorbers of academic

patents.

Mejlgaard

and Ryan

(2017)

Exploring patterns of TM

involvement among

scientists and engineers.

External interaction, with

a variety of societal

actors with whom

knowledge and other

capabilities are

exchanged.

Industrial collaboration

(human resources,

intellectual property, spin-

oﬀs, and contracts with

industry); public sector

service (contracts with public

bodies, participation in

policymaking, involvement

in social and cultural life, and

public understanding of

science).

Quantitative: research

output and TM

activities from

database

Denmark: Aarhus

university

Determining ﬁve clusters of

researchers based on their TM

activities. Most researchers

have limited engagement in

TM activities. Researchers who

work closely with industry

perform extremely well in

terms of publication

productivity and impact, while

those primarily engaged with

public authorities perform

considerably below average.

14 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Table 4. Articles on Third Mission activities.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities Methodology and Data Unit of Analysis Findings

Esko et al.

(2012)

Discussing the interaction

between university

research and society and

examining various forms

and means of

that interaction.

Contribution to society

in terms of social

equality, welfare and

democracy.

Protecting minority language

(training researchers,

bidirectional personnel

exchange, establishment of

language nest); concentration

on social problems in urban

suburbs (think-tanks and

consultancies, joint

professorships, research

courses for students)

Qualitative: interviews

with diﬀerent

stakeholders

Finland: University of

Finland

Numeric indicators alone are an

incomplete way of

understanding the various

contributions university

research has on society.

Ranga et al.

(2016)

Analysing the development

of university–business

cooperation (UBC) in

Finland in the context of

the University Reform Act

of 2009, drawing on the

experience of four

universities.

Commercialisation and

academic

entrepreneurship.

Research commercialisation

and academic

entrepreneurship: technology

transfer, business and

innovation services and

research commercialisation

realised in UBC

Qualitative: multiple cross-

regional case studies.

Finland: Aalto

University,

University of

Jyväskylä,

University of Turku,

and Lappeenranta

University of

Technology.

Recent, but fast-growing UBC

process that evolves in dynamic

local innovation and

entrepreneurship ecosystems.

The UBC process has been

inspired by international

experience, and the important

role of public organisations in

Finnish start-ups. The strongest

eﬀect was observed on

motivations, in terms of

introducing a change of

attitude and orientation

towards UBC, new approaches

to education, research and

(Continued)

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 15

Table 4. Continued.

Article Research aim/objectives Deﬁnition of TM TM activities Methodology and Data Unit of Analysis Findings

entrepreneurship, and new

opportunities for collaboration.

Mandrup and

Jensen

(2017)

Presenting a practical

approach to developing

and exploring an

educational design

combining Triple Helix

theory and Educational

Action Research for

support of student

learning and innovation

activities in interaction

with various actors.

Providing service to

multiple

stakeholders.

Applied research, technology

transfer, knowledge-based

innovation, entrepreneurship

Mixed research:

exploratory sequential

study: qualitative

participatory

observations, qualitative

semi-structured

interviews, quantitative

survey with individual

students (N = 119)

Denmark: SDU Action research seems to oﬀer an

eﬀective approach for bridging

sectoral partner interests

around diverse types of

innovative projects into forms

of Triple Helix collaboration that

may expand beyond the

classroom context.

Steinthorsson

et al. (2017)

Outlining the development

of a science park by

identifying design issues

and success factors.

Strengthen economic

development.

Science parks, UIC, cluster

creation

Qualitative: explorative

single case study

Iceland: University of

Iceland

The development of the science

park in Iceland is not based on

an entrepreneurial perspective

or triple helix concept. Such a

perspective is not made explicit

in the strategy papers of the

University of Iceland. The lack of

relationships can explain the

rationale for a change in the

conceptualisation and

conﬁguration of the park which

is now rather seen as a

community.

16 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

as consulting, a technology transfer in the form of patenting and licensing, a spin-oﬀor start-up cre-

ation, and a contract or applied research. To facilitate commercialisation universities have often cre-

ated –either with the help of governments or industry –TTOs and university-industry

collaborations (UIC), alumni programmes, science parks, clusters, innovation centres or patent

oﬃces.

Activities based on non-commercial formats are given less prominence in the articles. Authors

who adopt a regional development perspective are particularly apt to refer to TM activities as

non-commercial in nature; that is, those activities which do not generate direct monetary beneﬁts

to universities but involve advantages resulting from knowledge transfer. Examples of those are con-

tributions to public debate, life-long learning opportunities, participating in networks or clusters,

inviting guest lecturers, supporting industrial mobility or regional research, publishing in the local

language and supporting popular-science publications.

Policy Implications

Diﬀerent policy implications can be drawn from the literature review. In the following section, pol-

icies are examined that can be promoted by national governments and universities.

When considering policy implications mentioned in the articles, key features of the Nordic wel-

fare state come into eﬀect such as high-level public ﬁnancing instead of private university funding, a

risk-averse culture, and the reluctance of companies to pay for highly subsidised university services

(Ranga et al., 2016). These features, again, aﬀect how universities implement their TM, since

decisions often follow a top-down approach and are set by the national government involving little

ﬂexibility when it comes to individual universities and their capacities (Bourelos et al., 2012; Jacob

et al., 2003). This is even more evident when the TM is seen as a “regional mission”with the main

purpose of promoting regional research, development and interaction (Benneworth et al., 2017).

National policies which are, for example, based on research excellence can create regional tensions

among universities in peripheral regions (Karlsen et al., 2017). Other policies that can further under-

mine universities’regional engagement are university mergers, focusing on research excellence and

research-intensive universities, publishing in English rather than in a local language, or regarding

international funding as more valuable than regional contributions (Benneworth et al., 2017;Šima

et al., 2017). Trippl et al. (2015), therefore, propose to fund regional initiatives directly. These initiat-

ives can be organisational structures for innovation and technology transfer such as TTOs, science

parks, cluster initiatives, innovation centres or patent oﬃces or programmes to strengthen entrepre-

neurship education and university-industry collaboration involving tax incentives. This is also in line

with Kohtamäki (2015) and Gregersen et al. (2009) who argue that governments need to clearly con-

sider –beside research and teaching –universities’TM when allocating public funding. Markuer-

kiaga et al. (2016, p. 839) here propose “speciﬁc funds for entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship

education and active teaching methods”as distinct from funding dedicated to the ﬁrst two university

missions. The government can support entrepreneurial activities on the individual scientist level by

implementing a favourable taxation system for the entrepreneurial and commercial activities of

researchers (Henrekson & Rosenberg, 2001). Along with allocating funds and tax incentives, regional

engagement should be prioritised, rewarded and supported equally in order to promote excellent

research at national or international level (Šima et al., 2017;Šmídová et al., 2017).

As regards university level, one main challenge is to withstand isomorphism and to avoid copying

world-class universities rather than concentrating on distinct aspects of each university and its var-

ious stakeholders from society and industry (Callagher et al., 2015; Hellström et al., 2013). University

culture needs to be open to change, for example with the help of role models and increased com-

munication concerning entrepreneurial activities (Etzkowitz et al., 2008; Hellström et al., 2013;

Huyghe & Knockaert, 2015). Nordic universities were forerunners in oﬀering entrepreneurship edu-

cation at most of their faculties, which could, however, be extended to more broad-based degrees

(Etzkowitz et al., 2008). To promote entrepreneurship, universities also need to oﬀer their employees

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 17

more support in relation to entrepreneurial activities such as knowledge and education on patenting

processes, formation of university-industry collaboration, and company creation (Dahlborg et al.,

2017; Fogelberg & Lundqvist, 2013; Karlsson & Wigren, 2012).

Due to the increased importance of TM at universities it is insuﬃcient to assess researchers’uni-

versity performance solely on the basis of scientiﬁc publications (Dahlborg et al., 2017). Therefore,

universities need to ﬁnd ways of taking diﬀerent types of TM activities into account when assessing

their employees. This also involves ﬁnding methods to better measure and evaluate researchers’

engagement in TM activities compared to research and teaching and thus change their incentive

structures and career development at universities for researchers (Pålsson et al., 2009). It needs to

be taken into account, however, that not all university researchers are eligible to act as entrepreneurs.

Therefore so called “matchmakers”or facilitators, who can be student entrepreneurs, alumni or

already established companies, should be involved in TM activities and enabled to take part as entre-

preneurs in commercialising research (Berggren, 2011,2017). This also involves reconsidering

patent ownership similar to Swedish professors’privilege (Mets, 2010).

Most policy implications in the articles aim to promote competitiveness and commercialisation

within universities but policy plans often appear to neglect additional contributions to society. It

seems that so far universities have not found a balance between the economic and social aspect of

their TM (Gregersen et al., 2009). Also, a balance between all their three missions is lacking. Part

of the answer may be that most universities are unaware of their indirect TM activities and those

based on social aspects, but which are nonetheless important for knowledge transfer and public

welfare. New typologies need to be proposed, similar to those presented by Nilsson et al.

(2010), that can help to uncover the “grey zone”in order to consider these TM activities for policy

decisions. In line with the above-mentioned, universities need to make a clearer distinction

between the three roles of research, teaching, and entrepreneurship/social engagement. Only

then will it be possible to support and award those researchers who encourage entrepreneurship

or regional engagement and allow universities to adapt their incentive and reward system accord-

ingly (Huyghe & Knockaert, 2015).

Diﬀerences Between Nordic Countries

The literature review reveals that most research on TM has been conducted in Sweden. Articles

from Swedish universities examine in general the development of universities into entrepreneur-

ial institutes and commercialisation processes. Research, therefore, particularly aims to discover

how universities can spur the entrepreneurial activities of researchers and their research per-

formance. This is in line with the fact that Sweden was the ﬁrst country to add TM to the

agenda of universities in 1975 (Bourelos et al., 2012). Besides, the incentive system stimulates

academic entrepreneurship as, due to the “professors’privilege”, most university researchers

or companies hold academic patents instead of universities. Also, Innova, the Swedish Govern-

mental Agency for Innovation Systems, was introduced in 2001 to provide funding to academia

with the intention of strengthening collaboration between universities, companies and the public

sector. University researchers have thereby largely integrated a third role into their range of

functions.

Research in Norway mostly emphasises the regional dimension of TM and most articles evolved

around a Norwegian-Czech research group. This development indicates a higher incentive of univer-

sities and scientists towards a more regional engagement. The research reveals that universities in

peripheral areas such as Agder in Norway are often trapped between adopting a regional or inter-

national strategy (Pålsson et al., 2009). This comes as no surprise as the TM in Norway is based

on an intersection of higher education and a regionalisation policy implemented in the 1960s and

1970s (Pinheiro et al., 2017). However, policies nowadays prefer to emphasise research excellence

and economic interests in accordance with global expectations and consequently neglect the social

and regional aspects of TM at Norwegian universities which causes tensions among universities.

18 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Therefore, universities concentrate more on disciplines that tend to be accepted on an international

scale aiming at higher research output, taking in more students, and as a consequence researchers

invest less time in TM activities (Šima et al., 2017).

Research from Finland covers a wide range but is –similar to research in Norway –concentrating

on social and regional dimensions of TM, especially examining external stakeholders such as

regional industry and community. Not only research universities, but especially also university

centres and universities of applied science were established since the 1980s to augment the inter-

action between universities and their regions (Vakkuri, 2004).

Research from Danish universities focuses mainly on industrial collaboration and entrepreneur-

ship education that focuses on engagement with external partners where students are involved in

industry projects (Mandrup & Jensen, 2017). The basis was laid by a new University Act in 2003

which stipulated the universities’TM by stipulating increasing external control over universities

(Mejlgaard & Ryan, 2017). Further, as of 2007 many public research agencies were incorporated

by universities and there has always been a strong industrial research tradition in Denmark (Calla-

gher et al., 2015). However as private R&D spending has stagnated, increasing research and inno-

vation activities by stimulating university-industry collaboration become even more important

(Gregersen et al., 2009).

In Iceland only one article has been published regarding TM based on the establishment of a

science park. The establishment is, however, decoupled from strategies of the universities –which

have not yet incorporated TM at the example of other Nordic universities –and is, therefore, not

based on an entrepreneurial perspective, but is rather a community project (Steinthorsson et al.,

2017).

Research Gaps

In the examined articles various research gaps were mentioned which imply future research possi-

bilities. Frequently, authors call for comparative studies, not only between diﬀerent universities and

regions, but also between diﬀerent countries to compare divergent approaches as to how universities

and governments deal with challenges in implementing the TM and how cultural and political deter-

minants can inﬂuence the entrepreneurial development of universities (Callagher et al., 2015; Dahl-

borg et al., 2017; Huyghe & Knockaert, 2015; Markuerkiaga et al., 2016; Nilsson et al., 2010). This

also involves the inclusion of diﬀerent science areas or disciplines and their integration of TM, as

most researchers have concentrated on commercialisation of research within engineering faculties

but neglected research within humanities or social sciences and their commitment and responsibility

towards TM activities (Fogelberg & Lundqvist, 2013; Holmen & Ljungberg, 2015). To direct

researchers’behaviour and interest towards higher engagement in entrepreneurial activities future

research should examine culture and climate within departments and universities (Huyghe &

Knockaert, 2015). In addition, acceptance and possible tension within universities and diﬀerent fac-

ulties regarding TM development needs to be better researched (Karlsen et al., 2017), as well as how

the public accepts universities’engagement in society and commercialisation of research (Trippl

et al., 2015).

There is a need to study the implementation of TM at individual researcher level and how

researchers can adapt to and integrate a third role into their range of tasks (Holmen & Ljungberg,

2015). This can be done against the background of looking at the actual cost eﬀectiveness of a div-

ision of labour within universities or among diﬀerent stakeholders and the integration of more tasks

for researchers (Vico et al., 2017). Likewise, it may be worth considering how other actors can be

involved in the entrepreneurial activities of researchers such as entrepreneurship students or alumni

(Berggren, 2017)

Further, from the perspective of university scientists, it is crucial to learn more about the general

background of academics who engage in TM activities such as their position, age and experience

(Dahlborg et al., 2017; Holmen & Ljungberg, 2015) and how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 19

inﬂuences researchers participating in TM activities. As much of the conducted research has concen-

trated on measurable and apparent TM activities it would be interesting to see research on a broader

scale by including more informal activities (Nilsson et al., 2010). It is, therefore, essential to widen the

research focus to include TM activities which are not only commercial in nature, thus looking

towards activities that manifest high social value and have until now been ignored by policymakers

and university management. These activities involve life-long learning activities, popular-science

publications and media appearance of researchers, protection of minorities, engagement in

(regional) sustainability, personnel mobility, industrial student internships, and more. To be able

to take these activities into account, research needs to ﬁnd solutions as to how universities can

measure and evaluate direct and indirect TM initiatives in order to build eﬃcient support systems

including incentive and reward structures.

Conclusion

In recent decades university missions have gone beyond mere teaching and research, as more

emphasis has been placed on service to society and involvement in regional economic growth and

development. The aim of this study was to identify and analyse research based on the TM of univer-

sities of Nordic countries. A systematic literature review was chosen as a research method and 35

articles were identiﬁed as focusing on TM in Nordic universities in the period from 2000 to 2018.

A descriptive analysis of research articles showed that the topic of TM has become increasingly rel-

evant in recent years, especially regarding the regional component of universities. Qualitative case

studies have been prevalent so far, but mixed methods and quantitative research designs have

become more frequent lately. Most research on TM has been conducted in Sweden, while researchers

in Norway mostly stress the regional component of TM, particularly when researching peripheral

regions.

The research foci of the articles are highly diverse but can be positioned under four main topics.

The major part of the articles deals with academic entrepreneurship and commercialisation of

research and, in this context, also the development of an entrepreneurial university. Fewer articles

are concerned with social or non-commercial aspects of the mission as the topic of regional devel-

opment indicates. These results signify that until now most research has focused on the TM as a

commercialisation of research, but little research has been conducted on the social aspects and

lacks the evaluation of TM activities indirectly contributing to knowledge transfer and regional

development. Besides, little is to be learned about diﬀerent disciplines and there is no research on

so-called “soft sciences”such as humanities and social sciences and their contribution, inclusion

and development towards TM. It is clear that in order to promote TM activities, whether concerning

commercial or social aspects, governments need to invest in support structures of universities and

diversify sources of funding. Universities need to promote an entrepreneurial culture within their

organisation with suitable reward and incentive systems, role models and strong networks connect-

ing with public organisations and industry. Assessment of all three roles of university researchers

needs to be revised.

This literature review is not without limitations. The concept of “Third Mission”is a broad ﬁeld

and therefore it is diﬃcult to extract articles for this purpose based upon titles and abstracts that

often do not eﬀectively communicate the content of each article. Searched items were restricted to

publications in English in Nordic countries and did not pick up single ventures that imply TM activi-

ties such as company creation, contract research, patenting or other. Consequently, setting search

criteria and selecting articles for a literature review has the potential to miss out speciﬁc articles

as it follows a subjective process. Furthermore, the search was limited to research conducted in Nor-

dic countries. Finally, this article has no intention of creating or judging positions regarding the

implementation and enhancement of a TM. Therefore, a reﬂective approach is needed to shed better

light on ethical assumptions accompanying this concept.

20 V. SCHNURBUS AND I. R. EDVARDSSON

Disclosure Statement

No potential conﬂict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Verena Schnurbus http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0256-6350

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Yuanyuan Wu

The entrepreneurship culture atmosphere in universities plays a pivotal role in shaping the mindset and behavior of students towards innovation and risk-taking. Through sentiment analysis, universities can gauge the prevailing attitudes and emotions towards entrepreneurship among students and faculty members. A positive entrepreneurship culture atmosphere fosters an environment of creativity, resilience, and collaboration, encouraging students to pursue entrepreneurial ventures and take calculated risks. By promoting a supportive ecosystem that celebrates failure as a learning opportunity and provides resources and mentorship for budding entrepreneurs, universities can cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit among their community members. Moreover, sentiment analysis enables universities to identify areas for improvement and tailor interventions to enhance the entrepreneurship culture atmosphere further. This paper presents an evaluation of the innovation and entrepreneurship culture atmosphere in universities using sentiment analysis, enhanced by Automated Recommender Probabilistic bi-gram Sentimental Analysis (ARPbi-gSA). The research aims to assess the prevailing sentiments and attitudes towards innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty members within university communities. Through the analysis of textual data from various sources such as social media posts, surveys, and academic literature, the ARPbi-gSA algorithm evaluates the sentiment expressed towards entrepreneurship initiatives, programs, and events. Results from sentiment analysis provide insights into the overall positivity or negativity surrounding the entrepreneurship culture atmosphere, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. The sentiment analysis conducted using ARPbi-gSA revealed a sentiment score of 0.75, indicating a predominantly positive sentiment towards entrepreneurship initiatives within the university. Out of 1000 social media posts analyzed, 650 expressed positive sentiments, while 250 were neutral, and 100 were negative, reflecting an overall positive sentiment towards entrepreneurship culture. Based on the sentiment analysis findings, the ARPbi-gSA algorithm provided recommendations for enhancing the entrepreneurship culture atmosphere, resulting in a 15% increase in student participation in entrepreneurial activities over the academic year.

Mission Possible: How to Achieve It? Six Models for Advancing Social Innovation in Universities

Article

Oct 2023

N. Gladkikh

Social innovation stands as a pivotal component in the implementation of the Third Mission. Universities worldwide are actively seeking pathways to innovate throughout the realm of all three missions, while keeping them in harmony. In this article, we delve into the various models of social innovation development within universities that can be currently identified. We will explore the criteria that set these models apart, presenting the author’s classification, which is derived from a comprehensive synthesis of existing experiences.

The Third Mission and the Social Sciences and Humanities

Article

Sep 2023
Forschung

Along with education and scientific research, universities are more and more involved in their Third Mission (TM) which has been broadly portrayed as the openness of academia towards the socio-economic system. The academic and policy discourse has mainly focused on the contribution of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines to the TM, mostly in the domain of the business system via spinoff companies and patents. More recently, the spread of social, health and environmental challenges at global and local level, has reinforced the role of university TMs. Indeed, understanding and solving such challenges require an interdisciplinary approach, where the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSHs) can play a strategic role. This paper briefly reviews both the potential and the challenges of the TM, focusing on the emerging role of the SSHs. Italian TM policy is also presented. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the Italian case, some ideas are proposed to rethink the university and its TM as tools for increasing social justice, sustainable development, and quality of life in local communities.

Educational Action Research and Triple Helix principles in entrepreneurship education: introducing the EARTH design to explore individuals in Triple Helix collaboration

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2017

This article presents a practical approach on how to develop and explore an educational design combining Triple Helix theory and Educational Action Research for support of student learning and innovation activities in interaction with various actors. The design, termed EARTH, organizes systemic interactions between selected sectoral actors at the level of individuals in a context of innovative learning. Educational Action Research and Triple Helix theory share common principles seeking to generate change through collaboration, co-creation, equality, voluntarism, communication, and consensus-making between various actors. This creates a productive framework for supporting students’ innovation activities and learning experiences, educational research, and organizational development. The EARTH design provides a basis for open innovation projects between students, teachers, researchers, and external partners from different sectors. Research data indicate that Triple Helix dynamics of substitution support students’ competence and project developments. The design generates real-world innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for the students through mastery, social change, and vicarious learning. Furthermore, student teams organize self-initiated project interactions with diverse sectoral actors. The principles of Educational Action Research and Triple Helix are ideals that may be difficult to align due to asymmetries between involved partners unless such structural deficiencies are mutually addressed. This may be corrected by reorganizing the relations between Triple Helix spaces of knowledge, innovation, and consensus. The article concludes with a discussion of combining Educational Action Research with Triple Helix theory and some general perspectives for future developments of the EARTH design.

Universities’ Third Mission: Global Discourses and National Imperatives

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2017

Universities are increasingly pressurized to contribute to the socio-economic development of their societies. This has led to increasing calls for stronger societal engagement around the third mission (TM). In this paper, we contextualize developments surrounding TM by comparing policy approaches in Norway and the Czech Republic. Our analysis shows similarities as well as differences and points to the importance of assessing TM developments in the light of wider policy dynamics and priorities.

New forms of engagement in third mission activities: a multi-level university-centric approach

Article

Oct 2019

Traditionally, universities have focused on two missions: teaching and research. While the universities still fulfill these missions, a third mission has been added: university research must establish its direct value to society. However, a lingering question is how this third mission should be carried out. While the earliest models focused on the universities operating similarly to an R&D department in a private company – seeking to patent research inventions and then capitalising on intellectual property rights – the focus today is much more nuanced and incorporates both invention- and innovation-oriented activities. This article captures existing knowledge of universities’ third mission activities and identifies five different models of how universities seek to fulfil the third mission. These models are empirically investigated through two multi-level case studies based on insights from universities’ top management, innovation and/or technology transfer offices, and research units within the emerging drone technology area. The findings illustrate how the two universities seek to fulfil the third mission, based on the same starting point but following different models. Moreover, a sixth model is identified, namely the Ecosystem Model, where the universities engage more extensively and with greater responsibility in collaborative efforts with a range of public and private actors on addressing comprehensive industrial and societal challenges through technology development and market insights. In doing so, the university’s role becomes more active in advancing the development of an industry. This emerging way of fulfilling the third mission is discussed with respect to university management and the achievement of societal goals.

Exploration and exploitation in the development of more entrepreneurial universities: A twisting learning path model of ambidexterity

Article

Nov 2018
TECHNOL FORECAST SOC

The paper conducts a systematic literature review on the development process of universities towards the entrepreneurial model to provide a conceptual framework and a strategic research agenda. From the analysis of the body of literature on the topic, exploration and exploitation emerge as critical processes in the development of entrepreneurial universities. Nevertheless, the way they are balanced within universities is an under-researched topic. Adapted from the concept of organisational ambidexterity, this paper develops the notion of university ambidexterity to analyse the development process of entrepreneurial universities. To achieve this research aim, a conceptual model is developed by integrating the learning processes of exploration and exploitation to the previous theories used to analyse the entrepreneurial university. As already emphasised in other studies focusing on the role of ambidexterity in different research contexts, this paper proposes an idea of balance over time. The universities need to balance exploration and exploitation in their evolutionary path towards the entrepreneurial model, but it may be not necessary to invest in exploration and exploitation processes simultaneously. On the contrary, it may be most important to oscillate between periods of exploration and periods of exploitation to achieve ambidexterity over time. As a result, the tensions between exploration and exploitation processes generate a twisting learning path for entrepreneurial universities. Finally, the paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework which consists of six constructs, namely internal organisational environment, external environment, university exploration, university exploitation, university ambidexterity, entrepreneurial university performance. The proposed research hypotheses on the interrelationships between the mentioned constructs and the mediating role of university ambidexterity constitute potential areas of investigation to direct future empirical research and further develop the body of knowledge in the field of entrepreneurial universities.

The strategic orientation of universities in knowledge transfer activities

Article

Oct 2018
TECHNOL FORECAST SOC

Previous research has claimed that universities can enhance the effectiveness of knowledge transfer activities by establishing a clear strategic goal and aligning all their activities towards that direction. To shed new light on this issue, in this paper we explore the determinants of universities' strategic choices in the field of knowledge transfer (KT). We identify theoretically and empirically three university KT strategies: income-generation strategy, service-to-faculty strategy, and local development strategy. We then investigate the role of university-level factors that determine the strategic choice of universities, particularly focusing on university horizontal (generalist vs. specialist) and vertical (high vs. low prestige) diversity. The empirical analysis relies on a unique survey of 178 university TTO managers across European universities, combined with additional data sources. Our results show that generalist and low prestige universities mainly pursue the local development strategy, while specialist and high prestige ones are more oriented towards the income generation strategy. These findings are highly relevant for theory and practice of KT in academic insitutions, given the relevance that the university third mission has for economic and societal development.

All that Glitters is Not Gold: the Surrogate Use of University Spin-Offs. Insights from Italy

Article

Jan 2018

The weak performance of Italian universities in for-profit third mission activities can be explained by taking into account different interrelated factors at national, local and individual level. The purpose of this article is to introduce and develop a specific argument: the low success and the ineffectiveness of universities’ third mission may be understandable also looking at the surrogate use through which professors and researchers exploit some third mission tools. In particular, the discussion concerns university spin-off companies, a typical for-profit tool that often can be activated for goals other than the official ones. Through three case studies carried out in three Italian universities, the article aims to shed light on actual reasons behind the engagement in a spin-off and to put the surrogate use of this tool in relation to old problems and constraints of the Italian university system.

Academic spinoffs as a value driver for intellectual capital. The case of the University of Pisa.

Article

Nov 2017

Purpose This paper discusses academic spinoffs as an expression of the value creation of university technology transfer investments. More recently, scholars have emphasised intellectual capital’s (IC) importance, also for universities in obtaining competitive advantages and by creating value. Such spinoffs are key to regional development, as a primary aspect of universities’ intellectual capital. Design/methodology/approach We tested our aim through a sample of the University of Pisa’s spinoffs. We measured the value the university’s third mission investment generates on the area by means of entrepreneurship through two different approaches. First, we defined a multiplier of the technology transfer investment (University Technology Transfer Multiplier) and then explored the intellectual capital components’ contributions to the academic spinoffs’ enterprise value. Findings The results show that the University of Pisa’s technology transfer investments positively impact on the local community through the spinoff system, both in economic terms and in IC. In the long term, these investments can enrich scientific humus and entrepreneurial mindsets. Research limitations/implications This is an exploratory study of the University of Pisa’s impacts on the local economy. The results are limited to the context of Pisa and to technology transfer policy. Another limitation is the subjectivity of the enterprise value estimation. Practical implications Our results can have some practical implications. The large portfolio of university stakeholders (policymakers, families, students, companies, financiers, etc.) ask for information, especially on long-term results: in a simple way the multiplier is able to communicate important feedbacks to support their decision-making process. Originality/value In the study we propose a new tool to measure the impact of the investment in technology transfer on the local community

Regional Development: Lifelong Learning as a Priority in Norway and the Czech Republic?

Article

Dec 2017

Lifelong learning (LLL) as part of the third mission agenda of higher education institutions (HEIs) has been prioritized yet understudied, especially regarding the implementation of supranational and national LLL strategies in institutional third mission arrangements. Addressing this limitation, the current paper aims at analyzing strategic approaches toward the institutionalization of LLL in the Czech Republic (CR) and Norway (NOR), with implications for HEIs in the Vysočina region (CR) and Agder region (NOR). More specifically, we comparatively explore the underlying characteristics of system-level LLL strategies and the extent to which those spill into the development policies of Vysočina and Agder as carried out by the regions' HEIs and regional administrations. Utilizing a mixed approach methodologically and conceptually building on models of LLL by Schuetze and Casey (2006), our findings show different national approaches and aims of LLL; NOR is a close-To-open society model, and CR is closer to a human capital model. Nevertheless, LLL practices are rather similar in both countries, and they do tend to be only partial.

Outsiders or Leaders? The Role of Higher Education Institutions in the Development of Peripheral Regions

Article

Dec 2017

Policy makers' interest in higher education institutions (HEIs) as instruments for regional development has increased in recent years, but evidence on the role of HEIs in peripheral regions remains unclear. In this article, we focus on the actual practices of HEIs in such regions. Specifically, we combine theories on the roles of HEIs and regional leadership in a case study of four HEIs (two in the Czech Republic and two in Norway) and their engagement in the development of their host regions. Our analysis shows that the HEIs engage in their host regions through their primary mission of teaching.

What are the Cultural Preconditions of Universities’ Regional Engagement? Towards a Disciplinary Sensitive Model of the University–Region Interface

Article

Dec 2017

This paper explores the relationship between disciplinary and organisational cultures and regional engagement. Disciplinary and organisational dimensions are key factors of academic identity and have a crucial impact on the ability of higher education institutions to actively engage within regional actors. The analysis builds on empirical data from selected Czech and Norwegian case higher education institutions. We call into question the conjecture that only specific organisational settings and incentive mechanisms-the formal structural side of higher education institutions-lead to better interactions between HEIs and regions. We conclude by arguing that informal tacit dimensions (that we conceptualise as epistemological orientations and disciplinary values and postures) are also important in understanding the dynamics of university regional engagement.

The Third Mission Among Nordic Universities: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract and Figures

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