Do civic university professionals need an entrepreneurial mindset?

The concept of the ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ has gained traction in recent years as a way to describe the behaviours and attitudes needed to drive innovation and change.

We know that universities can and do incubate entrepreneurial ideas, support students and local businesses to grow, and generate economic impact within their place.

But, to deepen the connection between universities and their places, do universities need people with entrepreneurial mindsets?

I recently met Paul Coyle, Director of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network – an international community of practice for the entrepreneurial mindset with members located in 107 countries – who has developed an easy to understand, common sense, and practical definition of the essential behaviours of an entrepreneurial mindset:

• Meet meal needs
• Innovate
• Never act unethically
• Dare to take risks
• Sell
• Exercise for productivity
• Take the initiative

Reference: (Coyle, P., 2023, Definition of the entrepreneurial mindset, Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, viewed 06/11/2023, https://entrepreneurial-mindset.network/mindset-defintion)

These behaviours align well with the goals of civic university professionals – both academics and professionals – seeking to create deeper place-based impact by driving institutional change within their universities.

Similarities Between Entrepreneurs and Civic Professionals

There are several parallels between the entrepreneurial mindset and the behaviours needed by civic university professionals:

• Meeting real needs: Successful entrepreneurs identify real customer needs and work to address them through their products or services. Similarly, civic university professionals must understand and address the authentic needs of their local communities. This requires building relationships, listening, and co-creating solutions with community partners.
• Innovating: Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for new ways to solve problems and improve processes. Civic professionals also need this innovative spirit to push their institutions in new directions, overcoming resistance to change. Fresh thinking is required to adapt the often well entrenched professional services, teaching, and research functions of universities to better serve communities.
• Taking risks: Launching a new venture involves risk, as does leading institutional change. Civic professionals may need to challenge existing practices and advocate for new approaches that push their universities out of their comfort zones. A certain tolerance for risk and experimentation is required.
• Selling ideas: Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to customers, investors, and partners in order to build support. Civic professionals need these skills to persuade key stakeholders – from university leadership to external partners – to adopt their vision for place-based strategies and initiatives.
• Taking initiative: Entrepreneurs take action to turn ideas into reality, and adapt to what is needed to get things done. Similarly, civic professionals cannot simply wait for change to happen – they need to take the lead in launching programs and projects to drive impact, and that often means being adaptable and flexible.

Key Differences

However, there are also some key differences between entrepreneurs and civic professionals that must be acknowledged:

• Purpose: Entrepreneurs are usually focused on commercial success, while civic professionals are generally focused on societal change as their primary aim. The metrics for judging success differ, and not only do civic university professionals often struggle to articulate their civic impact due to the tricky nature of measurement, they also often find measuring civic impact in financial terms partial or problematic.
• Resources: Entrepreneurs often start with limited resources and build things from the ground up. Civic university professionals usually work within large institutions with access to significant resources, even if redirecting those resources takes effort and skill. The skills required to change a well entrenched machine are often different to those required to build one from scratch.
• Timescales: Entrepreneurs often aim for rapid growth and returns, and will take calculated risks to put new opportunities within their reach. Civic professionals usually seek lasting, sustainable change which may take longer to achieve and measure.

Conclusion

While differences exist, civic university professionals can certainly benefit from cultivating several behaviours associated with an entrepreneurial mindset. Meeting real needs, innovating, taking risks, selling ideas, and taking initiative are all behaviours that can help drive deeper community engagement and institutional change.

Developing an entrepreneurial mindset while working within the unique context of higher education institutions could empower civic university professionals to have greater impact.

Key Points

• The entrepreneurial mindset involves behaviours like meeting needs, innovating, taking risks, selling ideas, productivity, and taking initiative.
• There are similarities between these behaviours and those required for civic professionals to create change.
• However, differences exist around purpose, resources, and timescales.
• Civic professionals can benefit from adopting aspects of an entrepreneurial mindset while acknowledging the constraints of working within educational institutions.