Developing a Model of Sustainable Academic Entrepreneurship

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Elhamm Mofateh Zadeh

Ali Morovati Sharifabadi

Habib Zare Ahmadabadi

Seyed Heidar Mirfakhradini

Department of Management, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

10.22067/jstinp.2026.96629.1195

Abstract

In recent years, academic entrepreneurship has been recognized as a key component of sustainable development. However, most existing studies have examined only one or a limited number of sustainability dimensions, lacking a comprehensive and systematic perspective. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a conceptual model of sustainable academic entrepreneurship using a hybrid approach that integrates meta-synthesis and fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to identify and analyze the relationships among influential factors. This research is developmental–applied in purpose and qualitative in nature. In the first stage, the meta-synthesis method was employed to identify the factors affecting sustainable academic entrepreneurship. To this end, fifty domestic and international articles published between 2010 and 2024 were selected and analyzed based on thematic relevance and methodological rigor. In the second stage, the relative importance and structural position of the extracted factors were evaluated using the opinions of ten academic experts, and the data were analyzed through FCM. The findings revealed eight major conceptual categories: policy-making and institutional support; university–industry–community collaboration; entrepreneurial culture; education and human resource development; technological infrastructure; financial resources; social and environmental innovation; and internal university processes. The FCM results indicated that institutional policy-making, university–industry interaction, and technological infrastructure possessed the highest centrality and influence within the network. Overall, the findings highlight that sustainable academic entrepreneurship is a multidimensional and network-oriented phenomenon that requires synergy among supportive policies, sustainability-oriented education, and effective engagement between universities, industry, and society.

Keywords

Sustainable Academic Entrepreneurship

Meta-synthesis

Fuzzy Cognitive Map

Sustainable Development

Entrepreneurial University

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