Mediating for the Transformation of the University: Identifying Challenges and Opportunities

Authors
seyed sajed seyed mousavi 1
Mahmood Abolghasemi 2
Mohammad Ghahramani 2
Mohammad Sadegh Khayatian Yazdi 3
1 PhD student at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Institute for Fundamental Studies of Science and Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
10.61838/KMAN.IRPHE.31.4.6
Abstract
The realization of entrepreneurial university has been the subject of many researches and the realization of new generation universities has always been the goal and aspirations of policymakers and researchers. Meanwhile, the role of intermediary institutions in the realization of the third generation university has been less investigated. However, the role of intermediary institutions faces important challenges and possibilities that must be given serious attention, and the need to conduct exploratory studies around these challenges seems essential. This article is done with a qualitative approach and multiple case study method. In this research, five intermediate institutions related to the top universities of the country were selected for deeper study and through free and semi-structured interviews and document study, the necessary data were collected from the officials and experts of this institution And it was analyzed by the "content analysis" method. Failure to provide stable financial resources, lack of legal personality in accordance with the characteristics and requirements of intermediary institutions in the country, adoption of unrealistic strategies, occurrence of tension and quarrel in the times of distribution of shares between team members and investors and intermediary institutions, lack of attention to knowledge management are the most important challenges of intermediary institutions in the country.The opportunities of intermediary institutions in relation to the human capital of universities, physical and structural proximity to universities, the use of the establishment space inside the university and the high quality of human capital of intermediary institutions, are opportunities of these institutions for realization of the third generation university. With regard to the mentioned issues, suggestions have been made to improve the performance of intermediary institutions, including "definition of appropriate legal personality", "operational advancement of adopted strategies in parallel with holding planning meetings and determining strategy". Making it possible to use the establishment space inside the university", "reducing the bureaucracy of the process of cooperation with the university in attracting projects" and “Establishing an understanding between the intermediary and the entrepreneur team at the beginning of cooperation in the form of a written, explicit and detailed contract” mentioned.
Keywords
Intermediary entity
Third generation university
Entrepreneur University
Multiple case study
Qualitative method
Subjects

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  • Receive Date 28 September 2024
  • Revise Date 12 March 2025
  • Accept Date 28 May 2025
  • Publish Date 01 December 2025