Incubating innovation in university settings: building entrepreneurial mindsets in the future generation of innovative emerging market leaders

Abstract

Purpose

One of the most discernible initiatives of entrepreneurial universities constitutes the launch of innovation centers, where students and alumni can incubate their business ideas and collaborate on innovative projects with the purpose of converting them into start-up ventures. While incubators and accelerators are quintessential in Western academic contexts, educational institutions in emerging economies are lagging behind in the preparation of future-ready business leaders via the establishment of hubs that stimulate entrepreneurial intention and diffusion of innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this conceptual paper, the authors seek to contribute to the development of entrepreneurial education ecosystems in less advanced regions of the world through the activation of university-based centers of innovation. The authors rely on a general review of the specialized literature to identify best practice insights pertaining to curriculum design and draw on the combined expertise of the authors’ research team in delivering entrepreneurship and innovation (under)graduate courses and executive education programs in emerging countries.

Findings

The authors conceptualize the mission, vision and curriculum of an innovation hub that can be adopted by any institution of higher education from transitional and emerging market settings to build powerful entrepreneurial mindsets in the future generation of innovative leaders. The proposed innovation hub curriculum incorporates a number of practically relevant and learning boosting activities, including the “So, You Think You Can Innovate?” competition, networking events and guest speakers and training seminars and workshops.

Originality/value

To keep up with changing industry dynamics and secure the relevance of their programs, institutions of higher education in emerging economies need to embrace entrepreneurial models of instruction. They ought to allocate temporal, physical and mental spaces and infrastructure to students to facilitate the generation of innovative concepts and encourage them toward commercialization.