Investigating the Entrepreneurial Competencies Required by University Administrators

The complexities of the entrepreneurial universities system will necessitate the emergence of managers endowed with special capabilities and features of which the major categories are entrepreneurial competencies. The present study conducted in 2012 aimed to investigate and categorize different dimensions of entrepreneurial competencies required by university administrators. The method of this study had a mixed approach in terms of strategy and it was an applied-developmental research method in terms of purpose. The target population of the current study in the qualitative section covered all experts in the higher education, system and in the quantitative section included all university administrators in different faculties of the University of Tehran. The sample size included 92 persons using Cochran's formula, along with questionnaires which were distributed among and collected from the target population as well. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data in the qualitative section of this study, and in the quantitative section Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed. The theoretical literature, summarizes five main clusters of competencies which included: "Knowledge and Awareness", "Skills and Experiences", "Traits and Personal Characteristics", "Attitudes and Self-Images", and "Values and Ethics". These clusters were selected as the main dimensions of entrepreneurial competencies required by university administrators. While acknowledging the importance of the five main dimensions in the final framework, the significance of 112 parameters was also confirmed to be incorporated in this framework. In order to establish a proper context of entrepreneurial meritocracy in the higher education system of our country, it seems essential that the framework developed in this study should be used to evaluate and identify the potentials of university administrators.