Startups by recent university graduates and their faculty: implications for university entrepreneurship policy

Citation

Braguinsky, S. (2012), "Startups by recent university graduates and their faculty: implications for university entrepreneurship policy", Strategic Direction, Vol. 28 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2012.05628iaa.011

Startups by recent university graduates and their faculty: implications for university entrepreneurship policy

Article type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 28, Issue 9

Åstebro T., Bazzazian N., Braguinsky S. Research Policy, May 2012, Vol. 41 Issue: 4, Start page: 663, No. of pages: 15

Earlier research on the role of universities in fostering entrepreneurial economic development almost exclusively covers spin-offs by faculty and staff. In contrast, we provide general evidence from the USA showing that the gross flow of start-ups by recently graduated students with an undergraduate degree in science or engineering is at least an order of magnitude larger than the spin-offs by their faculty, that a recent graduate is twice as likely as her Professor to start a business within three years of graduation, and that the graduates’ spin-offs are not of low quality. Three case studies illustrate how universities may stimulate science and engineering students and recent graduates to create new firms of high quality. We conclude that transforming university goals and practices toward increasing start-ups led by faculty might not be the most effective way for universities to stimulate entrepreneurial economic development. Article type: Case study ISSN: 0048-7333 Reference: 41AF395

Keywords: Academic entrepreneurship, Spin-offs, Students, University policy