To date, understanding and empirical investigation of the internationalisation processes of university spin-outs (USOs) have been limited. Few studies have explored the role of the specific characteristics of their core technology, in particular their innovativeness, as a determinant of their early internationalisation. This is also an issue which…

In universities worldwide, there is an increased reliance on academic developers to contribute to enhancing higher education. As critical-constructive agents within their universities, academic developers have the potential to contribute to changes on the institutional level as well as on the level of educational practices. While such a role has…

Academic spin-offs have become widely recognized vehicles for the commercialization of research results, fostering regional growth by universities. However, expectations of benefits are accompanied by high failure rates, low survival rates and fragile development paths. Our study addresses the role and contribution of the parent university in ASO…

The Irish institute of technology sector is undergoing a major restructuring that will culminate in mergers, to form technological universities (TU). It is essential that the perspective of key stakeholders is fully considered throughout this process, in order to facilitate a successful transition. This research investigates the factors…

The present research identifies the drivers of the growth of academic spin-offs (ASOs). Empirical studies have found few successful cases of ASOs from a firm-level perspective; many companies fail, and others tend to remain small without making a meaningful contribution to local economic development. Consequently, analysing the factors affecting…

Thirty years ago Boyer's report "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate" (1990) inspired the launch of the 'SoTL movement' which sought to raise the status of learning and teaching in higher education. In this paper we argue that despite its honourable intentions the SoTL movement has been a thorn in the flesh of…

This paper contributes to the understanding of university spinoff (USO) development by analysing structural properties of their shareholder networks over time and across different regions. Theoretically, we propose a new stage-based typology of USO development across regions. Empirically, the study utilises a sample of 1033 academic spinoffs…

This paper challenges the view that internationalisation of higher education is a 'global public good' by examining the growing tension between centres and peripheries in higher education. We argue for the need to develop new conceptual frameworks of internationalisation that recognise the uneven landscape of higher education, and that take…

The purpose of this article is to analyze the content of mission statements of Spanish public universities and explore two questions: firstly, whether missions differ according to the date they were drawn up, and second, whether their discourse reflects new public management policies proposed by the government. The study covered 47 public…

Universities are allocated considerable public resources and are expected to fulfil societal mandates through teaching, research and service to local, national and international communities. University strategic plans are public documents that express how university leaders, students, academic and administrative staff are expected to aspire to…

Accreditation as a form of quality assurance has spread worldwide. As a result, the public and research interests have targeted the policies that developed agencies and procedures and the responses and effects of accreditation on higher education organizations and programs. However, studies on accreditation have not analyzed two core aspects: the…

Amidst the rapidly evolving Higher Education (HE) landscape, this paper provides a systematic review of Academic Development (AD) work, the roles and responsibilities of Academic Developers (ADs) in HE. Beginning from the perspective that HE institutions, as publicly funded organisations, have responsibility to contribute to the public good, more…

The internationalisation of higher education, which has developed from a number of separate initiatives to become a strategic objective in its own right, has not been investigated from a strategic organisational perspective. Case studies of four English universities were developed via a Grounded Theory methodology. Mintzberg and Waters' [1985.…

Twenty years since educational reforms were implemented in Spain aiming at the modernisation of the vocational education system and at the improvement of its educational and developmental functions, relationships between education and industry have not been widely analysed. This study reviews the recent international literature on the topic and…

This contribution is based on an analysis of recent changes in doctoral education that can be observed in Europe and China. It traces the policies having led to these changes and discusses related policy transfer. The contribution is divided into five parts. It begins by sketching recent changes in doctoral education in the framework of the…