Liora Bresler
Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education
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Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Academe
The overall goal of this proposal is to explore how the intellectual entrepreneurial spirit of faculty leads to their academic excellence and impact. The study will use qualitative case-study methodology, focusing on a group of entrepreneurial faculty selected for their outstanding achievements across academic disciplines. Specific objectives include: 1. Identify entrepreneurial modes of faculty operation in academe. 2. Re-characterize these modes of operation in terms more traditionally associated with entrepreneurship: experiential learning; creative processes; identification and creation of opportunities; team building and collaborations; risk taking; relationship to failure; barriers; and rewards. 3. Analyze the contribution of these specific entrepreneurial characteristics and modes of operation to exceptional impact and academic excellence of faculty.
This investigation is pioneering in three respects: (i) it is the first to propose and adopt the above broad definition of AIE, encompassing research, teaching, and service; (ii) it is also the first to use empirical, field-based methodology to investigate the phenomena of either Academic Intellectual Entrepreneurship, or Intellectual Entrepreneurship; and (iii) it is the first to examine academic intellectual activity in entrepreneurial terms. At the basis of this project is the assumption that an expressed commitment to AIE can contribute greatly to the success, impact and satisfaction of academics, to the mission of the university, and to society at large. This is a seed project. The results of this project and follow-on projects are expected to contribute to the theory of Intellectual Entrepreneurship in Academe and will empower both faculty and doctoral students to experience each of the three components of academe along the three entrepreneurial axes: recognition of opportunities; acquisition and management of resources; and creation of a new entity of value.
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