University strategic planning and the impartation of technopreneurship skills to students: Literature review

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) has ushered in an era in which technopreneurship is central to economic development. Universities are viewed as critical conduits for imparting technopreneurship skills to university students (Cereijo, as cited in Suradi, Yasin, & Rasul, 2017), and this should be reflected in the university’s strategic plan. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the nexus between university strategic planning and the impartation of technopreneurship skills to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students in Sub-Saharan Africa. Methodologically, the paper adopted an integrative approach in reviewing, critiquing, and synthesising scholarly literature on the link between strategic planning and the impartation of technopreneurship skills in STEM universities. This paper argues that strategic planning has an impact on the transfer of technopreneurship skills to students. A university’s strategic plan defines its future direction, provides a coherent basis for decision-making, and establishes priorities (Albon, Iqbal, & Pearson, 2016). Hence, it influences the procurement and allocation of resources, courses to be taught and pedagogical approaches to be adopted. This paper contributes to knowledge by suggesting that strategic planning in STEM universities should encompass technology and entrepreneurship in the vision, mission, and strategic goals.