4. The Researcher
4.4 Individual Incentives in Vietnam
4.4 Individual Incentives in Vietnam
4.4.2 Data collection
To test our hypothesis, we developed a questionnaire to collect data on interactions of Vietnamese academic researchers with industry. An online survey was sent by email &
successfully delivered to a random sample of 4808 academics from all faculties at the six main public research-oriented universities in different regions in Vietnam from May 2018 to May 2019.
We received 265 fully-completed questionnaires and 34 questionnaires partial responses (>50%) which could be useful for analysis. The total response rate was more than 6%. The information from this survey is self-reported.
The questionnaire includes general questions related to the academics’ individual background and academic experience. We used two steps selection model. Based on academics’
previous experience with university-industry collaborations, we divide respondents into two groups: one group with university-industry collaborations experience and the other group without university-industry collaborations experience.
For the group with experience in university-industry collaborations, we include questions on collaboration initiation, frequency of interactions with industry and main channels of collaborations. We ask for prior personal contacts with the company involved in a collaboration.
To identify the most important drivers of academic engagement, we ask our respondents to rank the motivations to engage in university-industry collaborations from the systematic literature review on university-industry collaborations by Ankrah & AL-Tabbaa (2015, p.392). The list of motivations includes not only individual factors, but also organizational and institutional factors that influence academic engagement (Perkmann et al., 2013, p.430). Respondents rank these factors in a five-point Likert scale.
For the respondent group without experience in university-industry collaborations, we ask for the reasons as to why they were not engaged in UIC and rank the potential motivations on a five-point Likert scale.
4.4.3 Results
The detailed academic profiles of participants are presented in the Table 1. The respondents were asked to choose their current academic position. Lectures accounts for 50% of all population.
This is a normal distribution due to the reason that lectures are usually represent the main part of university’s staff in Vietnam in general.
Table 1. Academic profiles of the respondents
The total gender distribution of the respondents was 58% male and 42% female (Firgure1).
Figure 1. Gender distribution
Regarding scientific areas, participants were almost equal distributed among the three areas: life science & biomedicine, Technology and Social Sciences (Figure 2). While physical sciences accounts only for 10% of the participants.
Figure 2. Scientific areas distribution
Only 59 academics (22%) who participated in the questionnaire had no collaboration experience (Figure 3). A half of respondents had from 1 to 5 collaborations with companies.
42%
58%
Gender distribution, N=265
Female Male
28%
28%
32%
11%
Scientific areas, N=265
Life Sciences & Biomedicine Technology Social Sciences Physical Sciences
Figure 3. Academics and Experience in UIC
The respondents mainly participated in the following types of UIC: collaborative research to transfer university knowledge to industry, student placement to industry, consulting and contract research to solve a specific industry problem. In other words, universities were primarily involved in exploitation activities rather than exploration of new knowledge and technologies with an industry.
Figure 4. Types of UIC
Academics who were involved in UIC (N=206) were primarily motivated by exposure of students and faculty to practical problems/ applied technologies; access complementary expertise, knowledge; Business opportunity – exploitation of research capabilities and results; access funding for research (Figure 5). University policy was not ranked among the top factors that motivated these academics to engage in UIC. The respondents found government policy is one of the least important factors. Therefore, existing government policies and reforms could be not
22%
51%
12%
15%
Number of collaborations, N=265
0 from 1 to 5 from 6 to 10 More than 10
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Licensing Patenting Spin-off or start-up Collaborative research to transfer technology from…
Collaborative research to generate new technology…Collaborative research to transfer knowledge from…
Collaborative research to transfer university…
Specialized training programmes for industry Collaborative research to generate new knowledge…
Contract research to solve a specific industry problem Consulting Student placement to Industry Collaborative research to transfer university…
Types of UIC
efficient enough to have an impact on the individual decisions of academics in Vietnam to engage in UIC.
Figure 5. Motives to engage in UIC
Interestingly, academics who have never been involved in collaborations (N=59) chose University Policy as the first and the most important motivations!
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Societal pressure Publication of papers Government Policy Recognition or achievement of eminence Financial rewards Service to the industrial community/ society Access government grant for research Business opportunity – deployment of IPR to …
University Policy Employment opportunities for university graduates
Shift in knowledge based economy (growth in…
Promote innovation (through technology exchange) Discover new knowledge Contribute to national or regional economy Test application of theory Access state-of-the art equipment and facilities Obtain better results in curricular development
Access for Industrial funding for research…
Access funding for research Business opportunity – exploitation of research …
Access complementary expertise, knowledge Expose students and faculty to practical…
Motives to engage in UIC
Extremely Important Very Important Important Slightly Important Not Important
Figure 6. Potential motives to engage in UIC
0% 10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
Societal pressure Financial rewards Recognition or achievement of eminence Government Policy Business opportunity – deployment of IPR to …
Service to the industrial community/ society Publication of papers Access government grant for research Shift in knowledge based economy (growth in…
Contribute to national or regional economy Discover new knowledge Test application of theory Obtain better results in curricular development Promote innovation (through technology exchange)
Access for Industrial funding for research…
Employment opportunities for university graduates Access complementary expertise, knowledge Access funding for research Access state-of-the art equipment and facilities Expose students and faculty to practical problems/…
Business opportunity – exploitation of research … University Policy
Potential motives to engage in UIC
Extremely Important Very Important Important Slightly Important Not Important
Figure 7. Barriers to engage in UIC
One more interesting insight from our results is that the main barrier to engage in UIC is a lack of supportive government and/or university from the perspective of academics who have never been involved in collaborations (N=59) (Figure 7). This is an open call for university management to build an efficient TTO which can support these collaborations, set up clear regulations and change their incentive scheme to motivate academics to engage in KTT.
The second barrier is that respondents did not have an opportunity to collaborate with companies yet. Vietnamese universities can take a successful example of VUB’s “cross talks” to organise a similar initiative for connecting academics with industry. Therefore, there could be more chances for collaborations in the future.
Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Mr. Vu Dinh Nghiem Hung from the School of Economics and Management at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam for the contribution to the survey translation.
0%
0%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
7%
10%
10%
14%
28%
31%
No benefits for education No benefits for society Fundamental reserach is hardly to get grant to go…
No good connection between the business and the…
Businesses want to cooperate in the field of research Lack of knowledge of business needs No motivation No financial benefits Research field is not suitable No benefits for research Time (focus on teaching and research) No personal non-financial benefits No chances (opportunity) No supportive government and/or university policy
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