Success Factors in Higher Education–Industry Collaboration: A case study of collaboration in the engineering field

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of what potential success factors are relevant when developing and managing higher education–business partnerships. To shed light on this question, the paper presents a review of research literature on the possible success factors in university–industry relations. To shed further light on the factors identified in the literature, this paper reports on an empirical study of cross‐sector collaboration between four regional universities and energy firms in Norway. The empirical study should be seen as a “relevance check” of the factors identified in the extant literature on university–industry collaboration, within the particular context of education‐related partnerships. Based on the review and case studies, implications for management and further research are discussed.

Keywords:

• higher education policy
• higher education development
• employability
• management

Acknowledgements

The research project was funded by the trade association Energy Norway. The full report of the study is found in Thune and Pedersen (2009). The support of Energy Norway and NIFU is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also due to Trond Einar Pedersen at NIFU, the informants in the four case studies and the two anonymous reviewers for providing relevant input to the paper.

Notes

1. Relevant literature was identified through searches in Web of Science, searching for empirical studies that addressed keywords like performance, success or assessment or evaluation of university–industry relations. This approach provided access to up‐to‐date knowledge on this specific field of research. The general literature on university–industry relationships, changes in the context of universities and changes in the mission and role of the universities, although of relevance, has not been included in this review.

2. The University of Agder, Telemark University College, Narvik University College and Sør‐Trøndelag University College.

3. “Y‐veien” is the name of a particular bachelor program in engineering where students are accepted into higher education programs based on vocational education qualifications, not the general academic qualifications that are usually required for attending degree‐level courses.