Abstract We explore business school professors’ decision-making processes, specifically their motivations for choosing academia over industry and being involved in industry during their professorships. We gathered a cross-cultural research sample from Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, Texas and College of Administrative Sciences and Economics at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. We then analyze this sample through surveys and interviews for the rationales of professors to become an academic and concluded that Turkish and American professors value teaching, research, contribution to society and freedom to pursue their academic interests. We find that faculty from our sample exhibited an industry participation rate in excess of 70%, compared to a 17-18% general participation rate (Bozeman & Gaughan, 2007). Professors provided different reasons for industry involvement and transition to the academy. We find that these differences stem from three sources: economic constraints, different research environments and personal interests. Introduction An inherent issue in academic work rests in the “ivory tower” problem, in which academics can be perceived as pursuing research projects without directly translated practical applications. Students in universities also have perceptions of their professors’ progression to their current position as purely through intra-academia positions. Although these perceptions may stand true for many fields, professors in business schools differentiate themselves through a closer connection to industry and non-linear career progression into academia. Our paper seeks to understand the decision making processes of business school professors in their pursuit of academic and industry careers. Through interviews with faculty of the Jesse Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics at Koç University, we analyzed underlying motivations for professors to integrate industry exposure with their academic pursuits. Interview and survey data obtained from Koç University provided unique comparisons to Rice University as both schools focus on quality research and undergraduate programs. Furthermore, Koç University adopts various aspects of academic systems in America, including smaller student to faculty ratios and a liberal arts approach to provide well-rounded learning experiences. However, a key difference between the two is Koç University’s lack of a tenure system for a permanent job position. Instead of being granted tenure, professors are evaluated every five years and are promoted based on “external recommendations by international peers” instead of largely on publication output like in most American research universities (Inan, 2015). We use this absence of the tenure system to analyze differences in professors’ industry exposure, as there were nuanced reasons to pursue industry work instead of devoting themselves solely to academic pursuits. Almost three-fourths of Rice and Koç University professors either previously held industry positions before entering the field of academia or pursued concurrent industry efforts alongside Page | 2
academic pursuits, such as by consulting with a major firm while conducting research on a topic of interest to the firm. This demonstrates how many business school professors use their experiences with the private sector to shape their career pathways and their research or teaching. We discover that faculty members’ motivations to switch careers into academia were primarily rooted in the need to escape the restrictions that accompanied jobs in industry so that they could have greater flexibility in both their personal lifestyles as well as their research pursuits. We also found that many professors engaged in concurrent industry work alongside their academic pursuits by working as consultants, serving as board members for companies, and collaborating on research. Their decisions to do so were rooted in three factors of time, monetary benefit and interest in the topic. Professors’ projects in the private sector led to several benefits by providing professors with valuable funding, data to analyze, additional income, a way to impact society with their work and input from real-world scenarios to direct their research and teaching. Previous Research We aim to examine trends of how business school academics nationally and internationally allocate their efforts and time commitments in regards to work in the academic realm and in industry as well as their motivations behind their choices. This cross-cultural focus serves as an innovative interest point showing similarities between individuals who pursue academia in business schools and how differences in university’s tenure system and culture affect these individuals. There have been significant analyses on the motivations of life science researchers or professors who interact with industry, but not much specifically on business professors. Regarding physical scientists and engineers, they appear to have two primary motivations depending on the type of work they do with industry. When consulting or conducting joint research, they do so to further their own research work. However, when they submit patents or create companies, they do so for monetary gain (D’este & Perkmann, 2010). Business school professors may also take on additional jobs for similar reasons, to benefit their research and to gain extra income. Studies suggest that one especially important factor to surviving in academia is a professor’s publication output. This is likely due to the pressure within academic careers to have high-output publication rates, which correlates with their career success. The more journal publications professors have, the more likely they are to be viewed as accomplished within their field and the easier it will be for them to gain seniority or be offered more important positions. A major factor in granting tenure is a professor’s research profile or output of publications. Tenure, the process of granting professors appointments until they retire, provides professors with a huge motivation for job security and additional freedom to pursue their research interests. For life scientists and engineers, each additional publication decreases the propensity of leaving academia by approximately 6% (Balsmeir & Pellens, 2014). Due to business schools’ lower publication rates, Page | 3
other factors such as age and personal preference may be more important for the professor’s decision to stay in academia compared to scientific fields. For PhD graduates, preferences that have been shown to favorably influence entering academia are passion for scientific research and the ease of getting publications. Comparatively, the graduates who choose to work in firms put greater intrinsic value on salary, resource access, and applied research (Roach & Sauermann, 2010). When working at a university, an individual has more creative control over the research, but has to put in more effort to get funding or personal financial gain (Aghion, Dewatripont, & Stein, 2008). Therefore, business professors who choose to consult or conduct joint research may be doing so at the expense of their research freedom but in order to gain access to resources that companies provide. Especially for funding, industry research or consulting allows the researcher monetary freedom so that they do not have to rely purely on grants available through governmental sources (Bozeman & Gaughan, 2007). The practical and application-oriented designation of business graduate schools especially lends itself to use of research funding from the industry itself. Finally, those who make career transitions from industry to academia usually do so at the expense of their own income. Winthrop University analyzed the career transitions of 88 faculty from 33 universities, 71.7% of respondents took a pay reduction of over $10,000 from their prior industry jobs. The salary cut associated with the job transition into academia may induce faculty to seek opportunities to supplement their income, which may serve as their motivation to seek a continuation of some form of their involvement in industry. The top three reasons individuals listed as why they changed sectors were the desire to teach, the lifestyle, and a desire to conduct research (Garrison, 2005). Research Methodology This research study was conducted using qualitative research methods of in-depth interviews coupled with quantitative data collected through surveys. This mixed-methods approach allowed us to explore the careers and motivations of professors within the Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and Koç University’s College of Administrative Sciences and Economics. We identified Koç University as a comparable program to the Jones Graduate School of Business due to similarities as well as key differences that may affect professors’ motivations underlying their careers. Both universities are private, support both undergraduate programs in related fields and also graduate programs granting MBA and Ph.D. degrees, and house a relatively small student population - as of 2015, there were 4,990 at Koç and 6,623 at Rice (Koç University, 2015; Rice University, 2015). Additionally, 90% of the faculty at Koç University received their Ph.D degrees in the United States. These similarities allowed us to study how differences between the two universities - namely, the lack of a tenure system in Koç and its location in Istanbul, Turkey - affect the professors. Page | 4
First, an interview guide was developed with questions that covered professors’ motivations, research interests, and reflections. Since we interviewed business school professors, we tailored the questions to address the decision to enter academia instead of industry, current work within industry, their research, and inspirations within their career. Using a faculty list in both schools of business, professors were contacted by student fellows to introduce the Gateway Study of Leadership program and our research goals. Professors first gave verbal consent to be audio recorded and were informed that they had the option to review their transcribed interviews. Each interview lasted approximately 30-45 minutes and was conducted in English at both schools. Overall, 25 professors from Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business and 19 professors from Koç’s College of Administrative Sciences and Economics were interviewed. Each research fellow interviewed professors and transcribed these interviews, only making minor edits for readability and clarity. Fellows then coded interviews in order to search for themes, significant quotes and patterns within the interviews. These codes were entered into a database in order to use for further analysis. The second part of our research involved creating and distributing a survey to professors at each school. 47 out of 47 professors from Rice and 25 out of 69 professors from Koç took this survey. To provide anonymity of responses, we could not verify which 25 professors responded. We obtained a 100% response rate from Rice professors and a 36% response rate from Koc professors. The lower response rate from Koc is likely attributable to the difficulties in follow-up of the international cohort. This survey included questions that addressed the amount of time professors spent in industry prior to entering academia and their current work within the private sector. This survey also contained demographic and topical questions meant to elucidate quantitative data regarding professors’ involvement in the private sector. After all of the data collection, fellows combined interview codes and survey data to synthesize this research paper. All professors’ names are removed for anonymity and given aliases either as sequential numbers for Koç professors or letters for Rice professors. Findings Descriptive Statistics Out of 25 Rice professors interviewed, 13 stated they had industry experience prior to academic pursuits and 10 stated they have had industry exposure alongside academic pursuits. Out of 19 Koç professors interviewed, 8 stated they had industry exposure prior to academic pursuits and 9 stated they have had industry exposure alongside academic pursuits. Both groups of professors interviewed showed a high percentage of industry exposure. In total, 18 out of 25 Rice professors Page | 5
(72 percent) and 14 out of 19 Koç professors (74 percent) discussed some form of industry involvement. Post-interview surveys of professors from Rice and Koç provided additional insight into involvement between academia and industry. Out of 47 Rice professors who took the survey, 19 indicated industry exposure prior to academia, 7 indicated no such exposure, and 21 did not answer. In considering simultaneous academic-industry pursuits, 20 professors stated they had industry exposure alongside academic pursuits, 6 stated they had no such exposure, and 21 left the question blank. Out of 25 Koç professors surveyed, 9 indicated they had industry exposure prior to their current academic pursuit, 6 indicated no such experience, and 10 did not answer. When asked about industry exposure alongside academic pursuits, 7 professors indicated they had such exposure, 8 indicated otherwise, and 10 did not answer. 1 U.S. research universities have had reported levels of 17-18% industry involvement for professors overall (Bozeman & Gaughan, 2007). 2 A majority percentage of industry involvement is unusual in academia, although business schools are the exception to the rule due to their intrinsic propensity for interaction with industry (Jünger, 2013). One Koç professor emphasized how it is a necessity that the two sectors coexist because she finds “the boundary between academia and industry to be superficial. Because without industry we don’t exist as the management scholars. And industry cannot flourish without an understanding of cutting-edge theory and new practices.” Transition from Industry to Academia Professors at Koç and Rice University consciously chose to transition from industry to academia for varying reasons. Major deciding factors for this transition include the unwanted restrictiveness of industry and desired flexibility in personal lifestyles and research interests. A large factor in why professors switched from industry to academia was because industry has more confining research limits versus the freedom in academia. We found that professors generally follow a two-step model when choosing to transition from industry to academia. The first step in the model rests on the negative aspects of working in industry. Professors find industry lacking in some form, and experience discontent about it. Secondly, they are pushed towards academia as an alternative career pathway that provides relief from the restrictions and stresses present in their previous jobs. When companies hire experts to conduct research, these researchers are expected to explore specific interests that directly influence the given company. Although professors would have 1
Given the anonymity of the survey, we cannot check which professors interviewed had completed the survey. We analyzed the two forms of data in complement with each other to develop our finding themes. 2 The range in values corresponds to different metrics used in the study. No one particular question asks about industry involvement. Instead, the study found 17% participation in “collaborative research” and 18% participation in “consulting.”
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higher salaries working in industry, they would have less freedom in deciding areas of research and work hours. A position as a professor provides expanded freedom in the work schedule and to research topics that are personally meaningful. Professor A from Rice recounted his memories of “being very frustrated” while working in industry and having to constantly go “from meeting to meeting and not having a sense of having done something purposeful.” In our survey with Rice University, 15% of the professors who provided a response reported “reduced stress levels” as one of their reasons for moving from industry to academia. 42% of Koç University professors reported “more flexible lifestyle” as a reason for a transition into academia. Professor B from Rice asserted that he could not “go back to having a boss” especially “after living this [academic] lifestyle”, reflecting his preference for a less restrictive lifestyle. Professors at Koç University had similar responses, such as Professor 1 from Koc who transitioned into academia after deciding that “working for investment banks after 3 years was [too] stressful.” In our survey with Koç University, 23% of the professors who provided a response reported “reduced stress levels” as one of their reasons for moving from industry to academia. 69% of Koç University professors reported “more flexible lifestyle” as a reason for a transition into academia. Overall, there was a consensus among professors at both universities who began in industry before switching to academia that larger salaries found in industry did not outweigh its limits on personal research and lifestyle interests. The second step in the two-step model of transition from industry to academia consists of an attraction towards positive aspects of academia. Since many business researchers previously found themselves discontented with limitations on personal research interests and work schedules, the relatively greater flexibility of an academic lifestyle influenced many professors’ choices to leave industry. As Professor C sums up, “the main benefit from being in academia … is the flexibility. And not only in terms of research, but also [in terms of] personal flexibility.” Instead of the very structured work usually associated with industrial work, professors choose the projects they work on based on how they align with their passions and current research topics (Bodine, n.d.). From our analysis, we found that the greater personal discretion permissible in academia versus industry served as one of the driving forces for a transition into academia. This finding held true for professors at both universities. Many professors expressed the opinion that they preferred greater research independence in academia over salary benefits found in industry. Professor 2 affirmed that he “never ever thought about leaving this job [in academia] and going to industry.” We discovered that other professors expressed similar opinions, including Professor D who believed that “flexibility is a big” deciding factor. He also found the “notion [of having] to check in every morning at whatever” and not being “allowed to leave the building until you did your eight hours so restrictive and [lacking] in meaning,” thus concisely illustrating an overarching theme of constraint versus Page | 7
flexibility. These accounts, in addition to the rest of our data, resulted in our conclusion that the relatively greater flexibility found in academia played a significant role in attracting researchers away from industry and towards academia. Two major reasons for pursuing a career as an academic are an interest in teaching and an interest in research. In our survey with Jones School, 85% of the professors who answered the question “please indicate your reasons for moving from industry to academia and/or choosing academia over industry” chose “desire to teach” as a reason, while 38% picked “desire to research.” Universities that prioritize teaching and research, as told by Professor E from Rice, are of crucial importance: “I don’t know where we would be without universities who conduct research as well as teach. And of course the importance of teaching is preparing people like you to go out and have an impact on society that’s positive and enjoy a positive and lucrative and satisfying career.” Some professors prefer teaching over research and vice versa. In an interview, Professor E stated that teaching is what initially made him a professor: “I discovered that I loved teaching enough and that I enjoyed the research I was doing enough, that I thought an academic career made a lot of sense.” A professor’s relationship to teaching and research might change over time, as exemplified by Professor F, a Rice professor of marketing and management; “I just found myself drawn into the type of research I’m doing and so I wanted to become a professor more to do research than to teach and I think that has changed over time.” Our survey data from Koç University also showed that “desire to research” and “desire to teach” were the highest chosen reasons for a transition into academia, with 77% positive response rate for both. Another justification of an academic career that resonates strongly with professors, especially at Koç University, is their contribution to society. Professor 3 from Koç University, captures this sentiment accurately; “actually, ‘like’ is not enough for it. I love what I do. I find academic [sic] to be a very self-fulfilling career. I mean whether it’s research or teaching, I feel like whatever I do is contributing society. I don’t think that even those minor contributions are possible in the corporate sector.” This contribution keeps professors very motivated. “As long as we strive for common goods for humanity and environment,” says Professor 4, an economics professor at Koç University, “we don’t have to demarcate and create artificial borders among society. I think of serving humanity and the environment.” Professors interviewed indicated that they are eager to learn, add to the humanity’s knowledge base and impact society in some capacity. The final common theme of reasons to pick academia over industry was the freedom in academia. This freedom gives professors full autonomy, when they pace their research work to meet their own deadlines, teach their courses how they desire and most importantly, when they choose what research to do. Professor G of the Jones School defines this level of autonomy as “infinite freedom”. The situation at Koç University is not any different: “First of all I have Page | 8
freedom of research, I have my independence at Koç University. Although I am a professor at the Management School of the university and although my research areas go more in the direction of Industrial Engineering, none of my previous deans or my current dean has ever told me: “Why don’t you do more business-related or management-related research?” I have here full freedom and independence,” Professor 2, a professor of management information systems at Koç University, mentioned in his interview. Overall our findings show that professors experience a plethora of reasons for shifting their careers into academia, or pursuing such a career right after a graduate degree. However, as noted before, business is one of the most industry-involved fields in academia due to the many incentives for collaboration (Jünger, 2013). Many professors still do industry work to a certain degree. In the remainder of our paper, we will discuss this phenomenon of industry-academia coinvolvement. Transition from Academia to Industry: Relative Values of Income, Time and Interest Just as some professors may have found academia to be a better fit after experiences industry, many professors may decide to engage in industry work alongside their career in academia. We found that industry involvement varied from management consulting to sitting on the board of a bank. However, our interview sample of Koç University professors reported a 47.37% participation rate in industry alongside academia. The interview sample of Rice University showed a slightly lower 40.00% participation rate. 3 This is still much higher than overall rates among professors. Due to the historically heavily centralized nature of higher education in Turkey, careers as an academic, in economic terms, are perceived differently than in the United States. Turkish public university salaries are relatively low: in 2016, the highest level of professor salary is approximately $30,000 on an annual basis. Although there is no official data on private university salaries, we estimate it to be higher, although incomparable to the numbers in the United States, where salary varies from $65,000 to $88,000 on the low end. At the high end, a full professor earned an annual salary of $140,000 to $190,000 (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, 2014). As a natural outcome, we think that providing an extra income source is one of the strongest reasons for higher participation rate in the industry for Turkish professors. Our interviews with faculty members from both schools provided a conversation between professors. We saw that professors are faced with three constraints when making this decision: money (do they need an extra source of income?), time (can they accommodate for the extra 3
We note that our small sample of 25 Rice professors and 19 Koç professors may not be representative of their respective departments as a whole. More research would be required to assess a representative sample.
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amount of time consulting requires?) and interest (are they interested in the problem they are solving as a consultant?). In our analysis, we saw that all professors face these decisions, yet their decision differs based on the evaluation of each constraint. Even though they agree that if money was their priority, they would have chosen industry jobs in the first place, they differ in the amount of importance they give to income. Granted, professors are not money driven: “I have this [...] attitude against money, against profit. [...] If I touch money, I have the tendency to wash my hands,” says Professor 5 from Koç University. The harsh reality, though, is that a professor’s income is often not sufficient. Professor 1, when asked about her career projection, said: “[Doing extra consulting] was our long-term plan when we moved back to Turkey and I know that that’s what a lot of academics do especially to supplement their income”. The extra income source seems enough of an incentive that many professors in Turkey choose to pick a side profession, in business professors’ case, for-profit consulting. When consulting and working with corporations, personal interest is slightly compromised because like Professor C from Rice stated, “when you are a consultant, the projects you have to work on, are [basically] determined by your clients.” American professors may not view extra income as an incentive to work on projects that are not interesting. This is exemplified by Professor F from Jones School: “If I wanted to do more consulting I could have done more and made more money, but there’s still the problem of looking at problems that don’t really interest me,” or doing extra consulting would simply be a limiting factor of one’s time, according to Professor D, “the more time you spend on consulting the less time you spend on research and teaching and then it also comes with a different lifestyle”. Another benefit professors may have in the United States is that their departments do not mostly face a fiscal constraint. For example, Professor H from Jones School stated in our interview that he was able to receive extra funding for his project by simply asking the dean. Even though business schools are generally well-funded, there is a gap to a certain extent between the United States and Turkey. However, this funding gap seems to be narrowing, at least in Koç University. Koç University’s Professor 6, who is also the Vice President of Academic Affairs of the university, touched on this issue: “[At] public universities you may need that kind of extra income, but here you don’t, so you have that freedom to do [consulting] if you are interested in doing it as a part of your professional development,” leaving the choice to professor’s personal preference as opposed to necessity. Whether professors focus solely on academia or balance industry with academia, they report the importance of work flexibility. As Professor 7 stated, “nobody tells me what I have to do. But also in academics you can do the industry work too. So every Monday I go downtown and I Page | 10
work with some companies.” Professors have the power of autonomy but do face the aforementioned common constraints on income, time and interest. Balancing Industry and Academia: Differences in Research Identity Although three constraints on income, time and interest shape preferences of professors from Rice University and Koç University, academic cultures within the two universities also contribute in shaping how these professors share their time between industry and academia. Faculty from both schools aim to present themselves as competent researchers that contribute positively to the university. However, Rice and Koç approach this goal from different perspectives. Rice professors, especially those not yet receiving tenure, strive to maintain impact through their research. Professor I from the Jones School describes these expectations: “[T]here is an understanding that my contributions to the research will be kind of evaluated both externally and internally -- to say is what [I’m] doing important and having a big enough impact that [I] deserve tenure?” In the process of honing research qualities to demonstrate research impact, professors may feel that time constraints force them to choose between full-time tenure-track research, or consulting and industry work on the side. The choice between industry participation and full academic immersion creates an intertemporal choice related to job security and revenue stream. On one hand, industry participation may provide extra present income and less job security in the future. On the other hand, full focus on tenure-track research may provide less present income but more future job security. Untenured Rice professors prioritize their research to maximize chances for obtaining tenure. Professor D of Jones School describes the thought process of a tenure track professor interested in new and unrelated topics. “I’m fascinated by how goal setting motivates motivation… but since it would be completely unrelated to anything else I’m doing, it’s probably not a wise pursuit of my time at this point in my career.” Further, he describes the timeline for achieving tenure as “you kind of need to stick with what you’ve started, so whatever you started doing in your dissertation or in the first few years of your career, you kind of need to see that through.” On the other hand, Koç University professors cannot pursue a tenure possibility, a possibility that may lead to permanent job security. If they are interested in promotion, the importance is more on cultivating international relationships instead of high research output. Therefore, it creates a simpler choice for Koç University professors. These professors form their preferences only by the three constraints mentioned earlier: time, income and interest. These professors only decide whether they value their time more than their money and if they are interested enough in the work to spend time on it. If they wish to increase present consumption and live more Page | 11
comfortably, they may take the time to engage in more industry work and complement their revenue stream. Koç professors may also experience greater flexibility to pursue interests not directly related to academic pursuits. Whereas Rice professors prioritize tenure-track research and cut non-related research, Koç professors engage with industry on projects in which they are personally interested. Professor 4 of Koç University describes the climate of consulting-academia collaboration as “offering lots of interesting opportunities.” Koç professors may feel more freedom to engage in these interesting opportunities, because engaging with industry will not hinder their pursuits at achieving tenure. Data analysis from our interviews shows that both interview groups demonstrated at least 40% concurrent participation in industry and academia. When analyzing industry work during and prior to academia, both groups of professors interviewed demonstrated a high participation rate. 72% of Rice University professors and 74% of Koç University interviewed exhibited industry experience. Both Rice and Koç professors self-select their balance between industry and academia. Rice professors, eligible for tenure, may choose to work towards tenure for more secure academia job prospects. Koç professors, ineligible for tenure, may choose to focus on industry for more secure industry job prospects. 4 Collaboration Benefits of Industry and Academia Through cross-collaboration between companies and professors, a flow of various resources between academia and industry is established, including funding for research projects, data for use in publications and money to supplement their personal income. This collaboration assures mutual benefit for both parties that incentivize academia and industry to work together when division-specific expertise or research projects fall in line with data, analysis, or advice that companies are interested in acquiring. Especially for professors who work in the business school, the data that companies can provide them give them facts and figures to analyze for their research purposes. Professor A, who researches marketing analytics and customer relationship management at the Jones School of Business, uses consulting as his ultimate source to acquire data to use in his publications. He states that “I could not have done anything if it weren’t for ... that free consult, ... almost every article that I’ve published comes from data I got from some business.” For Professor A, instead of monetary motivations, his fee for consulting companies is to gain access to their numbers for his personal research purposes. 4
Again it’s noted these conclusions are derived from the sample and may not represent the whole departments.
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This statement is supported by a study of over 1,500 academics over a variety of scientific disciplines that demonstrated that a majority of professors conduct projects with industry in order to advance their research instead of in order to commercialize their knowledge for monetary gain, especially when the projects are consulting based or contract research (D’este & Perkmann, 2010). Joint or contract research provides opportunities for resources sharing in order to study the same topics. Professor E, a Jones Accounting professor, researches financial reporting and works with firms “interested in learning more about how standards and practices evolve” by either gaining “some of the financial support for my work or ... data for my research.” The process of acquiring funding to support their research is one of the major tasks for professors, so having money sources from interested parties such as companies can majorly benefit researchers. Industry involvement can affect professor’s classroom experiences as well. Out of Jones School of Business professors, 63% thought their consulting and work in industry contributed to both their research as well as to their teaching. An example of this cross-section is from Professor H, a researcher of technology innovation at Jones School, who “taught a concept, we call it Disruptive Innovation”, a concept that “a director in the greeting company in Houston … [applied] it in his company”. From this experience he wrote a teaching case about the company’s concept that will be submitted for publication and benefit his research profile. Here is an example of how the three areas of teaching, research, and industry work can flow together and benefit each other. Since the workings of supply and demand along with other economic factors in the real world present solutions and issues that may not be predicted with theoretic models in academia, trends in the private sector can be very useful for academic purposes. For example, Professor J of Jones School mentioned her experience on the Mutual Fund Board of the USAA for nine years allowed her to further her own research in the business realm; “my human capital, in terms of my research and teaching, has benefited enormously from the opportunity to get inside a mutual fund company.” Professors use these real-world experiences and human interactions to gain a better understanding on what topics to research and how to shape their class curriculums. Other professors mentioned that researchers may look at the aggregate, or generalized situation, but never at the more specific details of what drives certain behaviors in the business world. Since economic theory and financial strategies are only as valid as the private industries portray them to be, it makes absolute sense that real world data should impact and improve academic research. Likewise, it is important to note that academia can benefit the private industry in a similar manner.
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Although many professors and tenure-seeking researchers pursue and analyze findings to benefit academia and to promote scholarly work, our studies show that some professors believe their research can translate into industry in some fashion. For example, some professors argued that the content they teach to their business students would eventually help shape the future managers and employees in the real world, thus allowing academia to transcend into a much higher impact status. Other professors simply stated that former students or people they are acquainted with come to them for help on certain critical business concepts needed for their positions and that they are happy to help. This form of knowledge exchange is not considered formal private consulting, but it is an informal type of consulting that can nonetheless have a large influence on the private industry. In terms of more formal consulting, Professor J discussed her work for the Salient Index Committee on the topics of portfolio investment and financial index construction. She was invited to share her academic related theoretical knowledge on a deliverable that had real world and practical implications. This academically driven deliverable underlines the importance of academic research in the private business realm. Conclusion Through a comprehensive analysis of qualitative interviews and survey data from two business schools, the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, Texas and College of Administrative Sciences and Economics at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey, we discovered valuable insight in the relationships business school professors have with the privatesector. We found substantially higher rates of academics in business schools who held previous or current industry positions compared to other fields such as life sciences or engineering. Approximately three-fourths of the professors we studied had some form of work in industry compared to 17-18% of professors overall (Bozeman & Gaughan, 2007). Many current professors exhibited major career transitions from a job in the private-sector, which they usually perceived as too restrictive and regimented, into academia. This was motivated primarily by a desire for a more flexible lifestyle, in daily work schedules and in research pursuits and a desire to teach others. However, a switch into academia didn’t necessarily translate into a complete devotion to academic work. Instead, a high amount of business school professors work with industry through consulting, joint or contract research, senior level advising or other project collaborations. Compared to with previous research, professors didn’t not show significant industry involvement in the form of patents or company creations, so therefore were not motivated by mostly monetary reasons, and instead there existed a mutual benefit between companies and professors. Professors decided on if they would take private-sector projects based on if they desired supplemental income, if they had the personal resources and time to devote and if the project was in their area Page | 14
of interest. We hypothesize that the presence of a tenure system, may discourage many untenured professors from seeking these opportunities unless they directly align with their research, due to the pressures to have high academic productivity to gain the high reward of tenure. Instead at Koç while there is opportunities for promotion and appointments, the possibility of a permanent position is not present. This would be a cause explaining the slightly higher percentages of professors that engaged with industry at Koç University, where a tenure system does not exist, compared to Rice University where it does. This would provide an topic for further research and large-scale analysis of many universities with and without tenure. Professors who did take advantage of industry projects received data and funding from companies, knowledge to incorporate in their teaching lessons and an outlet for them to directly impact the functioning of the private sector. Our research suggests that the decision-making crossroad is a lot more complex than one might initially have believed and provides many alternative routes for career progression and work in both industry and academia. This shows many graduating students and professionals that a direct progression from a Ph.D., to post-doctoral student, to professor is not necessary, especially for business school professors. Instead, many of those in the field became a professor after working in the private-sector did not provide the freedom they desired in lifestyle and research or the opportunity to educate others. Business school professors also have many opportunities to impact the functioning of industry itself by taking on mutually beneficial joint research, consulting positions or advisor roles. This provides a solution to the “ivory tower” problem by connecting work in academia to practical applications in businesses and an avenue for those interested in both academia and industry.
References Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. (2015). Average Full-Time Salaries of Business School Faculty. Retrieved from http://www.aacsb.edu/knowledge/data/frequently-requested/salary/avg-full-time-salaries Aghion, P., Dewatripont, M., & Stein, J. (2008). Academic Freedom, Private-Sector Focus, and the Process of Innovation. The RAND Journal of Economics, 39(3), 617-631. Balsmeir, B., & Pellens, M. (2014). Who makes, who breaks: Which scientists stay in academe? Economic Letters, 122, 229-232. Bodine, S. (n.d.). Successfully Making Transitions Between Academia and Industry. Retrieved from http://www.the-aps.org/mm/Careers/Mentor/Career-Choices-and-Planning/Early-CareerProfessional/Considering-a-change-in-career-/Transitions-Between-Academia-and-Industry
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Bozeman, B., & Gaughan, M. (2007). Impacts of grants and contracts on academic researchers’ interactions with industry. Research Policy, 36, 694-707. D’Este, P., Perkmann, M. (2010). Why do academics engage with industry? The entrepreneurial university and individual motivations. Advanced Institute of Management Research, 1744-0009, 1-43. Garrison, C. (2005). Who moves from industry to academia and why: An exploratory survey and analysis. Education, 125(3), 414-421. Inan, U. (2015). A formula for academic prosperity. Retrieved from http://www.eaie.org/blog/formula-for-academic-prosperity/ Jünger, M. (2013). Collaboration between the Academic World and Industry. Tefen Tribune, 2123. Retrieved from http://en.tefen.com/uploads/insights/1456222692_P5uVJUVqlf.pdf Tefen Management Consulting Koç University. (2015). Koç University Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.waseda.jp/sils/jp/abroad/pdf/2015_f/12_01_Koç_information_sheet%28SILS201516%29.pdf Rice University. (2015). At a Glance. Retrieved from http://oir.rice.edu/At_a_Glance/Rice_University// Roach, M., & Sauermann, H. (2010). A taste for science? PhD scientists’ academic orientation and self-selection into research careers in industry. Research Policy, 30, 422-434. Appendix A - Interview Guide Project explanation: A group of Rice University students in the School of Social Sciences have been leading an interview-based project since 2011 that examines how professors develop their careers, research interests, and view creativity, leadership, and role of academia in society. A selection of excerpts from these interviews are published in the annual book series, Turning Points, and showcased in a poster presentation at RURS. When starting the interview: A. Make sure to have them say their name and official title B. Introduce the program, give short one-liner(different than project explanation) C. Ask for verbal consent to participate in the study; remind interviewee that they have the option of final review over their transcript. D. Remind them of the time constraints, and summarize the agenda by mentioning the topics. (eg: “During this time, we will go over your background, your research interests, and your general thoughts on society and academia.”)
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1. Conversation starter (present this question exactly as stated) Everyone’s family, community, or life circumstances create an initial role for them in the society. What was expected of you? Did you adhere to it or stray from it? a. How did your family feel about your choices? b. When did you first envision yourself as a professor? c. Did you have someone who acted as a mentor, who cultivated your interests? 2. Professor's research a. How would you outline your main research interest in a few words? b. Where did you find your inspiration for it? What maintains your motivation? c. How much freedom do you feel you have to pursue your specific research? d. What do you see as the [potential] impact of your research to larger society? 3. Collaboration and Consulting a. What makes academia more desirable than industry for you? b. Do you collaborate with faculty in other disciplines, universities or with colleagues in the industry? c. Are you engaged in consulting? If yes, in what industry? d. In what ways does consulting/collaborations with the industry benefit your research or academic work? 4. What do you think is the biggest issue facing our society? If interviewee struggles, offer couple of the following topics to stir their minds: political; economic; educational; public health and welfare; religion; family structure; cultural issues; cultural divide; social change; the new generation 5. Academia and Leadership a. What do you think is the role of academia in society? b. What generates intellectual curiosity? Do you think it can be fostered? c. If you could use one or two characteristics to define leaders in academia, what would they be, why? d. Have you taken on leadership roles, whether in your research filed, administration, or other areas? How has your career differed after assuming leadership roles? 6. What advice would you give a prospective student in your field?
Appendix B- Survey distributed to Jones Graduate School of Business Thank you very much for agreeing to take our survey! Gateway Study of Leadership conducts interview-based research with Rice professors to explore their career, research interests and view about leadership and role of academia in society. The following survey consists of questions about tenure and career choice of professors.
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Q2 What department of the Jones Business School do you mainly identify with? ❍ Accounting ❍ Communications ❍ Entrepreneurship & Information Technology ❍ Finance ❍ Marketing ❍ Organizational Behavior ❍ Strategy & Environment Q3 Do you currently have tenure? ❍ Yes ❍ No If Yes Is Selected, Then Skip To How many years have you had tenure? Answer If Do you currently have tenure? No Is Selected Q4 Are you currently on the tenure track? ❍ Yes ❍ No Q22 How many years have you had tenure? ❍ 0-5 years ❍ 5-10 years ❍ 10-20 years ❍ 20+ years Q5 Please indicate whether you agree with the following statement: "the prospect of attaining tenure has an impact on the following qualities." Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Disagree Research ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ Freedom ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ StressLevels Pressure to Publish Focus on Teaching
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Q34 Currently, what is the distribution of your time during the work week? ______ Teaching ______ Researching ______ Administrative tasks ______ Other Q23 How often do you teach as part of your job ❍ Never ❍ 1 class per year ❍ 2 classes per year ❍ More than 2 classes per year Answer If How often do you teach as part of your job? Never Is Not Selected Q6 How many hours per week do you spend preparing to lecture? ❍ less than 10 ❍ 10 - 20 ❍ greater than 20 Q9 What do you believe is the main impact of your work on society? Please rank below according to their importance, 1 being the most important. ______ Growth of my academic field ______ Development of new knowledge ______ Private industry application ______ Inspiring of students Answer If Are you currently on the tenure track? Yes Is Selected Q10 While pursuing tenure, how much freedom do you believe you have to pursue your research interest? ______ 1 Answer If Do you currently have tenure? No Is Selected Q31 How much freedom do you believe you have to pursue your research interest? ______ 1 Answer If Do you currently have tenure? No Is Selected Q32 How do you see the level of freedom you have to pursue your research interest changing if you had tenure? ❍ No change ❍ Increase in freedom ❍ Decrease in freedom Answer If Do you currently have tenure? Yes Is Selected Q24 Before attaining tenure, how much freedom do you believe you had to pursue your research? ______ 1 Answer If Do you currently have tenure? Yes Is Selected Q11 After attaining tenure, how much freedom do you believe you have to pursue your research? ______ 1 Q13 How much of your professional stress would you attribute to the following?
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______ Social pressure from colleagues ______ Pressure to publish ______ Intrinsic motivation ______ Pressure from tenure Q14 How would you rank your stress level during the following time periods? ______ On the track to Tenure ______ Non-tenure track ______ Tenured Q17 Rank the prevalence of the pressure to publish during the following time periods. ______ On the track to Tenure ______ Non-Tenure Track ______ Tenured Q18 How would you quantify the importance of teaching as part of your job description during the following applicable periods in your life? ______ On the track to tenure ______ Non-tenure track ______ Tenured Answer If Do you currently have tenure? Yes Is Selected Q19 Compare the importance of teaching and research prior to tenure using the following scale: ______ Teaching ______ Research Answer If Do you currently have tenure? Yes Is Selected Q20 Compare the importance of Teaching and research <b>after receiving tenure</b> using the following scale: ______ Teaching ______ Research Q26 The following part deals with career choices before or during academia. Q15 Did you work in an industry and/or consulting position prior to your professor position? ❍ Yes ❍ No Q27 Have you ever worked in an industry and/or consultant position during your professorship? ❍ Yes ❍ No Answer If Have you ever worked in an industry and/or consultant position during your professorship? Yes Is Selected Q30 Do you think your industry/consulting experience contributed to your research/teaching? ❍ It contributed to my research ❍ It contributed to my teaching ❍ It contributed to both ❍ It did not contribute to either
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Q16 Please indicate your reasons for moving from industry to academia and/or choosing academia over industry. (Check all that apply) ❑ Desire to teach ❑ Desire to research ❑ More flexible lifestyle ❑ New degree ❑ Location ❑ Salary ❑ Reduced stress levels ❑ Other Q36 What is the 'Other' reason? Q29 Of the reasons you checked, please rank them according to their importance level. Appendix C – Survey distributed to Koç University College of Administrative Sciences and Economics GSL Koç Survey 2016 Q25 Thank you very much for agreeing to take our survey! Gateway Study of Leadership conducts interview-based research with Rice and Koç University professors to explore their career, research interests and view about leadership and the role of academia in society. The following survey consists of questions about tenure and career choice of professors. Q3 What is your current title in the Koç University College of Administrative Sciences and Economics? ❍ Lecturer ❍ Senior Lecturer ❍ Associate Professor ❍ Assistant Professor ❍ Full Professor ❍ Instructor ❍ Other Answer If What is your current title in the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics? Other Is Selected Q37 If other, please state your title here. Q22 How long is your current contract? ______ Contract Length Q5 Please indicate whether you agree with the following statement: "the contract system has an impact on the following qualities."
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Research Freedom Stress Levels Pressure to Publish Focus on Teaching
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Q38 How does the contract system compare to the tenure system in terms of job security? ______ Job Security Q7 Ideally, how would you like to distribute your time during an average work week? ______ Teaching ______ Researching ______ Administrative tasks ______ Other Q34 Currently, what is the distribution of your time during the work week? ______ Teaching ______ Researching ______ Administrative tasks ______ Other Q23 How often do you teach as part of your job?<div><br></div> ❍ Never ❍ 1 class per year ❍ 2 classes per year ❍ More than 2 classes per year Answer If How often do you teach as part of your job? Never Is Not Selected Q6 How many hours per week do you spend preparing to lecture? ❍ less than 10 ❍ 10 - 20 ❍ greater than 20 Q9 What do you believe is the main impact of your work on society? Please rank below according to their importance, 1 being the most important. ______ Growth of my academic field ______ Development of new knowledge ______ Private industry application ______ Inspiring of students Q10 How much freedom do you believe you have to pursue your research interest? ______
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Q32 How do you see the level of freedom you have to pursue your research interest changing if Koç had the tenure system? ❍ No change ❍ Increase in freedom ❍ Decrease in freedom Q13 How much of your professional stress would you attribute to the following? ______ Social pressure from colleagues ______ Pressure to publish ______ Intrinsic motivation ______ Pressure from tenure Q19 Compare the importance of teaching and research using the following scale: ______ Teaching ______ Research Q26 The following part deals with career choices before or during academia. Q15 Did you work in an industry and/or consulting position prior to your professor position? ❍ Yes ❍ No Q27 Have you ever worked in an industry and/or consultant position during your professorship? ❍ Yes ❍ No Answer If Have you ever worked in an industry and/or consultant position during your professorship? Yes Is Selected Q30 Do you think your industry/consulting experience contributed to your research/teaching? ❍ It contributed to my research ❍ It contributed to my teaching ❍ It contributed to both ❍ It did not contribute to either Q16 Please indicate your reasons for moving from industry to academia and/or choosing academia over industry. (Check all that apply) ❑ Desire to teach ❑ Desire to research ❑ More flexible lifestyle ❑ New degree ❑ Location ❑ Salary ❑ Reduced stress levels ❑ Other Q36 What is the 'Other' reason? Q29 Of the reasons you checked, please rank them according to their importance level.
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Q39 We appreciate your time. Please write down any comment you may have about the survey. Thanks in advance for your opinion!
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