entrepreneurial university, as a social institution

Abstract

This article aims to understand, theoretically, the dialogue between the university as a social institution and the concept of an entrepreneurial university. The university institution, with the process of commercialization of society, from the 90s onwards, with the advent of neoliberalism, has historically had a change in its role, becoming a protagonist in the stimulation and dissemination of entrepreneurship, contributing to a culture that values ​​socio-economic criteria and applied knowledge. Antagonistically, even in the face of numerous structural and legitimacy challenges in the face of a commercialized society, the university has always been a social institution, as it constitutes a social practice that is based on public recognition of its legitimacy and its attributions. The present study is characterized by qualitative research, in terms of bibliographic and documentary means; and, in terms of purposes, descriptive and applied. The results indicate that the university as a social institution can be entrepreneurial and vice versa. To deny this relationship is to deny the relationship constituted and instituted by and with society and the university. The duality of the university's relationship with society, of denial and affirmation, constitutes the dialectic of its identity. The act of entrepreneurship is at the essence of the concept of innovating. Innovate for a more inclusive and reflective society in its essence. We cannot deny the reality we are part of, but we can change it and perhaps transform it, through a management practice that enhances the university as a social, inclusive and entrepreneurial practice, in its essence.