Commercialised professionalism in academia? : a study of attitudes and behaviours in an entrepreneurial university context

Abstract

Purpose - This research seeks to understand academics as professionals in the context of an entrepreneurial university. It tests the concept of'commercialised professionalism' against traditional models of professionals. The research question is whether commercialised professionalism, as defined by Hanlon (1998), exists in academia; and, if so, to what extent it competes with traditionally-defined professionalism (Hall, 1968) and is linked to commercially-oriented (technology transfer, and other commercial) practices. Design/methodology/sampling - A field-based cross-sectional survey method is used combining an adapted version of Hall-Snizek's scale measuring 'traditional' professionalism and a newly-developed scale measuring commercialised professionalism. The sampling frame is academics working within a single research-intensive university in New Zealand. A random sampling strategy is applied on a university-wide basis, with stratification by participants' demographic information. Findings - Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) are applied to assess and validate a scale of commercialised professionalism. SEM-assisted analysis also models 'entrepreneurial' behaviours through technology transfer and commercial activities within the university, as well as the relationship between commercialised professionalism and the traditionally-defined professional inventory. Findings confirm commercialised professionalism as a three-factor structure. Results suggest that commercialised professionalism is linked to commercially-oriented practice, and co-exists with traditionally-defined professionalism, although some aspects of the traditional form appear to be linked paradoxically. In addition, this research discovers inter-connections between dimensions of both versions of professionalism. Contributions/implications - The contributions of this research are both methodological and theoretical. The scale of commercialised professionalism has been tested for robustness. Including a behavioural construct strengthens the validity of this research design. This research has also enabled the comparison of commercialised and an alternative, more traditional, view of professionalism, and explored both constructs indepth. It also enhances the understanding of academics and their professional performance in an 'entrepreneurial' university. Originality/value - This research tests commercialised professionalism, a concept that has not been operationalised or empirically tested but has been increasingly related to professional practice in a contemporary environment. The findings challenge the assumed competing relationship between commercialised professionalism and the traditional view.