Abstract
The mission of universities in the context of time, in line with global developments and transformations and in line with the goal of responding to the contingent needs of societies is moving towards participation in the entrepreneurial Paradigm. according to this The main purpose of the research was to design and explain a Strategic model of the entrepreneurial university with Futures Studies approach. This study was conducted using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. In this study, Meta-synthesismethods, fuzzy Delphi were used for data analysis. In the first step, a Meta-synthesisapproach was used to analyze the research literature on entrepreneurial university and its related models. The dimensions and codes related to entrepreneurial university were extracted. Also, in a separate section, the dimensions and codes related to the key factors of future studies in higher education were extracted. In the second step, the fuzzy Delphi questionnaire was designed in two separate questionnaires to identify the components related to the "entrepreneurial university " and "Factors shaping the ideal future of the university" and distributed in two rounds among experts in that field. In this section, experts in the field of management, entrepreneurship, and futures studies in higher education participated in the Delphi Fuzzy panel. The members of the fuzzy Delphi panel were determined by the judging and snowballing sampling method. Then, the last components of the research were extracted, the output of the entrepreneurial university section included 16 main categories, 51 concepts and in the future key factors' future studies in higher education section included 4 main categories, 8 concepts. Finally, the strategic model of the futuristic entrepreneurial university was designed.
Introduction
Once education and research were themissions of universities. But today, university gradually moves away from its traditional role and participates in socioeconomic development to take on a new mission and roledue to the developments and also based on its mission and commitment to society as well as its survival and growth. Universities that have been able to adapt to the new conditions are known as third-generation universities (entrepreneurial universities), which are the evolvedversion of first- and second-generation universities. According to Clark, the entrepreneurial university means one in which all the activities of its members, such as education, research, etc., are managed and executed in such a way that the university is considered as an economic institution or quasi-corporation.That is, these activities are directed to gain profit and competitive economic advantages. Most of our universities are in the first generation and a limited number of them are in the second generation. The third generation of universities has not been seriously raisedin Iran. Most of the researches conducted in the field of Futures Studies and screenwriting in Iran are focused on technology and then policy-making, and this has reduced the use of Futures Studies methods specific to higher education in Iran. However, despite the great importance of the application of concepts related to Futures Studies in higher education, this science is considered nascent in the field of higher education and needs special and deep attention from higher education practitioners. Researches done in the field of entrepreneurial university lack the comprehensiveness of the present research model and each has addressed the issue in a specific way. Presenting all the effective internal and external components together in a strategic and futuristic perspective is one of the salient features of this research that can be one of the distinctive aspects of this research. This study triesto design a comprehensive and futuristic model of the entrepreneurial university, which helps the universities in their future challenges. However, the main question of the present study is what strategic model the entrepreneurial university with a Futures Studies approach in higher educationhas.
Case study
For basic information, articles, dissertations and books during 2000-2020 were analyzed in domestic and Futures Studies sources. After extracting the sources, the articles were analyzed by a meta-synthesis qualitative method. Out of a total of 3,856 extracted sources, 114 were used for analysis in this research. Then the fuzzy Delphi method was selected to proceed the work and its output was analyzed by experts. Non-probabilistic sampling methods including judgmental and snowball sampling methods were used to select samples and form a panel of experts. A total of 17 experts in the field of management and entrepreneurship were selected. Also, the key factors of Futures Studies in higher education were separately extracted by document and content analysis methods and were examined and analyzed by fuzzy Delphi panel method. In this section, 14 Futures Studies experts in the field of higher education were selected.
Materials and Methods
The present study is both fundamental and applied in terms of purpose. It is a descriptive research in terms of data collectionthat has been carried out in two parts of model design (survey research by meta-synthesisand Delphi method). The methodology of the present study is pluralism in the research method, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.The following tools have been used to collect data: a) desk studies, b) meta-synthesis, c) content analysis, d) fuzzy Delphi (panel of experts).
Discussion and Results
In this research, a systemic model has been used to design the model. That is, it is designed based on input, process and output. The strategic model of entrepreneurial university in this research includes 16 main categories and 51 concepts. The main categories include: 1) Entrepreneurial organizational structure; 2) Entrepreneurial management; 3) Entrepreneurial vision and mission; 4) Entrepreneurial educational system; 5) Entrepreneurial research system; 6) Entrepreneurial human resource management; 7) Entrepreneurial financial resource management; 8) Culture of entrepreneurship and sustainability; 9) New ICT; 10) Role models and reward systems; 11) Entrepreneurship centers; 12) Government support; 13) Economic factors; 14) Socio-cultural factors; 15) Committed relationship of industry and university; 16) Internationalization. As mentioned earlier, in this study, in order to complete the discussion of foresight, in addition to gathering the factors affecting the entrepreneurial university, the factors that shape the favorable future of the university were separately collected and discussed. In order to build a futuristic entrepreneurial university, in addition to the factors affecting the entrepreneurial university, the factors affecting the future university must also be considered. Given this in mind, the concepts of foresight institutionalization and strategic thinking should be applied in all university activities, especially in the vision and mission of the university. In the process section, in order to build a foresight entrepreneurial university, foresight planning factors, discovery of internal and external trends, bedrock and structural reforms in the educational and research system, organizational structure, organizational culture, role models and reward system, information and communication technologies should be considered. In the output section, in order to build a futuristic entrepreneurial university, the factors of entrepreneurial university scenarios, science and technology foresight should also be highly considered.