The limits of academic entrepreneurship in emerging economies: A case study in public universities in Brazil

The objective of this study was to investigate the institutionalization of academic entrepreneurship through the participation of scientists in activities of technology transfer and knowledge to companies in a public university in Brazil. The starting point of the research refers to the discussions around the relationship between universities and companies, studied by different perspectives that highlight the emergence of new paradigms in the production of scientific knowledge, such as the arguments of the entrepreneurial university, even more critical analysis, sometimes stressing negative effects, sometimes demonstrating the maintenance of institutional boundaries between the two organizations. The research used two methods: 1) raising the participation of scientists in the process of technology transfer to industry, using secondary data and 2) qualitative research using semi-structured interviews, identifying the different types of institutional logics handling practices academic, one time focused on marketing, another immersed in science. There has been considerable growth in the university's interactions with industry. However, two aspects are considered. The first concerns the predominance of traditional mechanisms of technology transfer, compared to other types of interactions.The second refers to the low level of legitimation of entrepreneurial practices in the academic space, since the defense of scientific logic on the business logic. From the results, we conclude that the argument of the entrepreneurial university has serious limitations, since the low legitimacy of new processes of technology transfer. Thus the diffusion of new scientific practices oriented more contact with the economic demands, not necessarily express a process of institutionalization of academic entrepreneurship, such as the incorporation of new values, norms and scientific guidelines.