Providing a model to identify factors influencing the creation of an entrepreneurial university in cities

This study was performed to identify factors affecting the entrepreneurial university. In order to achieve this goal, a sample of 173 faculty members (academic rank of associate professor or higher) in academic year of 2015-2016 was selected using the using relative stratified sampling and Cochran’s formula. In this study, given the purpose and nature of research, for analysis of the data, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. The results of in-depth interviews and semi-structured and targeted interview with 14 qualified university professors led to the initial questionnaire developed by the researchers at 5-point Likert scale with 50 items; upon exploratory analysis, 9 items were excluded due to extraction value of commonality smaller than 0.5. Content validity of the questionnaire was approved by accredited academic experts. To assess the construct validity, convergent and divergent validity criteria were used. The results of factor loadings of each item showed that all items had factor loading of over 0.4 and average extracted variance of over 0.5, thus convergent validity of the variables was confirmed. In addition, the values of the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) was highest, indicating the validity of divergent validity of the variables. Composite reliability and validity of the questionnaire for all variables showed high levels of 0.7. Results showed that the size and components affecting establishment of entrepreneurial university included internal factors (capabilities, management and leadership, structure, prospects, financial resources and research, cultural and education policies) and external factors (interaction with environment and internationalization of the university). Finally, test of the model using t-test showed that the size and the identified factors had a positive and significant impact on the entrepreneurial university.