Academic entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

Research commercialisation is a multi-level process, and the interactions of these different actors help support and predict academic entrepreneurship (AE). However, only a few studies have considered the impact of multilevel actors on AE. Even very few of the previous studies considered individual perspectives. Hence, this study aims to advance the understanding of why academics engage in AE and investigate how different levels of actors interact to influence academics’ engagement in AE. Incorporating the Bayh-Dole type Act in different countries allowed universities to commercialise their research. As a result, universities are emphasising the formal contribution to economic development by commercialising their research rather than relying solely on informal ties. This indicates the importance of identifying other sources of funds that help universities, in other words, to become entrepreneurial. Bangladesh has been selected as the context due to universities’ interest in entrepreneurship and the increased number of universities and students in higher education in the last decade. The institutional theory is used as the theoretical lens in understanding the influence of government’s rules and regulations, universities’ norms and practices and academic mindset and cognition on the academics’ engagement in AE. This study adopted a qualitative research approach premised on a Neo-empiricist theoretical perspective. Twenty six semi-structured interviews were conducted from four universities, along with an analysis of key policy documents. The study adopted thematic analysis to analyse the data collected and identified three themes: Government Role, University Norms and Practices, and Human Perceptions and Motivations. This study makes three key contributions to AE literature. First, it improves our understanding of implementing the multi-level AE framework. Second, it develops a holistic framework for AE from a developing country perspective. This model includes the individual perceptions and motivations in the AE ecosystem. Finally, it explores the antecedent factors that shape individual behaviours to engage in AE. Overall, this thesis illustrates that although the government influences the universities, it does not directly affect academic AE engagement. However, the university norms and practices sometimes facilitate and inhibit academic AE involvement. The perceptions and motivations of the academic have a dominant effect on the academic’s entrepreneurial commitment.