On the Evolution of Colleges and Universities

Generating knowledge for various constituents and for society has always defined colleges and universities. Recent decades, though, have witnessed shifts in knowledge production and consumption. Research-oriented higher education institutions have developed closer linkages to for-profit firms, which have sought to exploit and commercialize academic know-how. In practical terms, these linkages can serve as an additional revenue stream for institutions that have seen declining state support in many national contexts. More broadly, collaboration with industry has come to mean that entrepreneurialism increasingly defines the work of universities. To what extent, though, does entrepreneurialism characterize the next stage of evolution for higher education? This paper applies ecological logic and literature on resource constraints to work on the innovation-driven, entrepreneurial university. I hope to suggest that, in spite of its increasing salience, the entrepreneurial university need not represent an evolutionary inevitability.