Universities as Knowledge Exchange Amplifiers Via Doctoral Completions

Abstract This paper reports on the first exploratory research to examine and describe the knowledge transfer inherent in, and facilitated by, the supervision and teaching of doctoral students and the other processes involved in the successful completion of a doctorate. In a contribution to knowledge, we find that universities and some other organisations are “knowledge exchange amplifiers” in that knowledge is spread well beyond the individual organisation. Knowledge exchange spillovers were most visible where doctoral research was practice-embedded or organisationally sponsored, although academic career trajectories also facilitated indirect diffusion via teaching, consultancy, and professional engagement. This type of organisation includes universities, but also other organisations including local councils when they are transmitting knowledge via encouraging and training the enterprises which are located within the council’s geographic sphere of influence. The findings contribute to knowledge economy scholarship by conceptualising doctoral education as a human capital–mediated mechanism of organisational knowledge spillover. Further research into the role of non-university research institutes is called for to expand current findings.