Academics and entrepreneurs: Enablers of hybrid identity centrality among university researchers

Abstract

As universities evolve through mission expansion and grapple with the increasing need to bridge academic work with practical relevance, researchers are finding themselves in the complex terrain of simultaneously embracing their entrepreneurial and academic identities. This study investigates the factors enabling hybrid identity centrality—a conscious recognition of being both an academic and entrepreneurial individual—among university researchers. Drawing on a sample of 312 researchers from two multifaculty universities, the findings show that researchers’ perception of a university’s entrepreneurship strategy implementation and their society—industry orientation significantly influence the likelihood of hybrid identity centrality. Notably, the society-industry orientation moderates the relationship between entrepreneurship strategy implementation and the adoption of a hybrid identity. The study contributes to the research on the complementarity of academic and entrepreneurial identities and adds novel insights to the organizational research on academic entrepreneurship by suggesting that entrepreneurship strategy alone may not suffice in promoting hybrid identity.