Gap analysis on green entrepreneurship and leadership in ASEAN Higher Education

This study aims to identify the conditions of ASEAN partner universities regarding their current practices on green entrepreneurship and leadership. In particular, the report draws from the stakeholder framework to acknowledge that universities are situated in a web of relationships with their surroundings, which “can affect or be affected by the decisions and the achievement of the firm’s objectives.” Based on this perspective, the report explores the gap between each partner university’s efforts and level of engagement in sustainability with three stakeholders: (1) university and faculty members, (2) students, and (3) communities. The data collection methods for the gap analysis are based on two tools: survey and focus group discussion. The survey method measures the aggregate tendencies of partner institutions concerning a set of themes and criteria for green entrepreneurship and leadership. The score of each dimension was obtained by calculating the means of the items. Given the survey’s aim to compare the variety of response patterns among different groups, box plots were deemed appropriate to visualize the findings. The focus group discussion, on the other hand, seeks to delve deeper into the challenges and complexity of each partner institution. The gap analysis of ASEAN partner universities shows that universities have engaged in some forms of green entrepreneurship and leadership. While support structures and policies at the university level exist, these are not well translated into a strong focus at the faculty level. Students showed a high level of intention to engage in green ventures, although they still lack the knowledge and experience in green entrepreneurship. Students are aware of the need for transformational leadership to make changes happen. From the survey, we also found that students and the community mostly need mentoring/coaching to support their venture, and the university support structure is among the most sought-after sources of support. These findings necessitate establishing specific capacity building for the ASEAN partner universities in integrating the environmental orientation with the social and financial goals. In conclusion, the gap analysis suggests that building and enhancing each partner university’s competence and support structure on green entrepreneurship and leadership is required.