Structural-interpretative modeling of strategies for achieving the mission of education in an entrepreneurial and community-oriented university

Considering the importance of transitioning economies from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one, and the importance of the role of universities in the development of innovative and entrepreneurial activities, the subject of entrepreneurial university and the strategies necessary for its formation have attracted the attention of many researchers and policy makers in the field of higher education. Meanwhile, the education mission, which has always been one of the universities' main missions, needs transformation and evolution in order to coordinate with the daily needs of the society. In this research, structural-interpretive modeling (ISM) was used to identify effective strategies and express the relationships between them in order to fulfill the mission of education in the entrepreneurial university. First, by systematically studying internal researches and using a focus group, 23 strategies were identified in fulfilling the mission of education in the path of community-oriented and entrepreneurship in universities, and among them, the content validity of 15 strategies was confirmed and introduced as the most effective strategies. After analyzing the data, the strategies were classified into four different levels and the ISM graph was plotted according to the relationships. By examining the relationship between these strategies, it is noteworthy that the achievement of the majority of them affects and is also affected by the realization of others. Therefore, it can be concluded that the policy makers, who have set their goal to achieve community-oriented and entrepreneurship in the university and the transformation of the educational structure, need to avoid a linear view and based on a systematic view, take the necessary measures to realize all the mentioned strategies. Determining the relationships between strategies and the types of strategies can help to better understand the issue and adopt appropriate policies and actions to fulfill the mission of education in entrepreneurial university.