Seizing the economic and social impact of universities’ knowledge exchange activities: Does one size fit all?

Universities contribute to social and economic development by engaging in knowledge exchange (KE) activities. These activities go beyond the generation and dissemination of knowledge, involving active collaboration with different stakeholders and adopting a central role in the knowledge-based society. The measurement of KE activities and their impact on society has been skewed towards research activities, with commercialization offering a limited view of their overall potential. In this study, we propose an alternative approach that provides a comprehensive understanding of KE activities conducted by universities. Specifically, we create and validate a scale that considers the perceptions of respondents regarding the KE activities developed in their university. Contrary to previous studies that consider the university as the main unit of analysis, we chose the faculty as a lower-level entity of the university. Therefore, the scale is targeted to all faculty deans as being ultimately responsible for these centers. Our work relied on a sample of public universities in Spain. After a series of refinements, a 17-item scale is presented, arranged in five dimensions: knowledge and technology commercialization, interdisciplinary research collaboration, research with and for society, outreach activities, and executive and collaborative teaching.