Higher Education Engagement with HEInnovate Self-Assessment Tool: A Case Study of Nine Austrian Higher Education Institutions
Abouelenain, Reem (2019)
2019
Master's Degree Programme in Research and Innovation in Higher Education
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2019-06-19
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201907162629
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201907162629
Tiivistelmä
This research investigates the process of carrying out self-assessment tools that support innovation and entrepreneurial activities in higher education institutions (HEIs), by looking specifically at a particular tool, HEInnovate, in the context of Austrian higher education. This comes at a time when both HEIs and the Austria government are emphasizing the importance of becoming more innovative and entrepreneurial in order to perform as an Innovation Leader in the European Innovation Scoreboard, and in recognition that innovation is key for productivity and economic growth, creating new and better jobs, enabling social mobility and is essential in responding to global and societal challenges (BKA et al. 2011).
Self-assessment tools in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship can provide inspiration and guidance to HEIs on how to capitalize on their strengths and address their weaknesses. HEInnovate has been used in that way in Europe and globally since its launch in 2013 (HEInnovate training package.; Gibb et al., 2015). It is gaining a growing acceptance as a growing number of HEIs are using it and have been providing positive feedback about it. However, there is scarce research done that looks at the process of using self-assessment tools in this nature (Ruskovaara, Pihkala, & Oy, 2016), and hardly any research done in the case of HEInnovate. This qualitative research aims to address this gap by doing a case study in nine Austrian HEIs and investigate their engagement with the HEInnovate self-assessment tool in the first half of 2018. The main research question is: how do HEIs engage with the HEInnovate self-assessment tool?
Self-assessment tools in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship can provide inspiration and guidance to HEIs on how to capitalize on their strengths and address their weaknesses. HEInnovate has been used in that way in Europe and globally since its launch in 2013 (HEInnovate training package.; Gibb et al., 2015). It is gaining a growing acceptance as a growing number of HEIs are using it and have been providing positive feedback about it. However, there is scarce research done that looks at the process of using self-assessment tools in this nature (Ruskovaara, Pihkala, & Oy, 2016), and hardly any research done in the case of HEInnovate. This qualitative research aims to address this gap by doing a case study in nine Austrian HEIs and investigate their engagement with the HEInnovate self-assessment tool in the first half of 2018. The main research question is: how do HEIs engage with the HEInnovate self-assessment tool?