What does this research mean for the field?

Institutional discourse promoting entrepreneurialism in universities actually fosters risk-averse, 'safe innovation' practices among academics due to performative governance and constrained working conditions. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONTRADICTORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine the structural tension between institutional expectations for entrepreneurial innovation and the daily performative conditions of academic labour in post-92 higher education.

August 22, 2026Journal of Further and Higher EducationOpen Access

Entrepreneurial universities and risk-averse academic practice

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Authors

DCDavid Crighton WSW. Shepherd

Discussion

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Overview

Qualitative interview study reveals risk-averse practices among university lecturers, indicating institutional audit cultures suppress actual academic innovation.

Key Points

To examine the structural tension between institutional expectations for entrepreneurial innovation and the daily performative conditions of academic labour in post-92 higher education.
Conducted 16 semi-structured qualitative interviews with academic lecturers.
Sampled participants across five universities located in Scotland and Wales.
Analyzed academic responses to institutional demands framed around creativity, agility, and risk through frameworks of governmentality and performativity.
Institutional demands for entrepreneurialism and agility are experienced as pragmatic, reactive responses to resource constraints rather than genuine innovation.
Risk-taking is actively avoided by lecturers due to audit systems and performance metrics that penalize failure and reward caution.
Introduces the concept of 'safe innovation' to describe how academic adaptation focuses on managing evaluation exposure and maintaining performance metrics rather than institutional transformation.

Cite This Study

Crighton et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895fd3ca7ade938187eb10 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2026.2720469

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August 22, 2026Journal of Further and Higher EducationOpen Access

Entrepreneurial universities and risk-averse academic practice

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

DCDavid Crighton WSW. Shepherd

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Qualitative interview study reveals risk-averse practices among university lecturers, indicating institutional audit cultures suppress actual academic innovation.

Key Points

To examine the structural tension between institutional expectations for entrepreneurial innovation and the daily performative conditions of academic labour in post-92 higher education.
Conducted 16 semi-structured qualitative interviews with academic lecturers.
Sampled participants across five universities located in Scotland and Wales.
Analyzed academic responses to institutional demands framed around creativity, agility, and risk through frameworks of governmentality and performativity.
Institutional demands for entrepreneurialism and agility are experienced as pragmatic, reactive responses to resource constraints rather than genuine innovation.
Risk-taking is actively avoided by lecturers due to audit systems and performance metrics that penalize failure and reward caution.
Introduces the concept of 'safe innovation' to describe how academic adaptation focuses on managing evaluation exposure and maintaining performance metrics rather than institutional transformation.

Cite This Study

Crighton et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895fd3ca7ade938187eb10 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2026.2720469

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