Profiles of Academic–Industry Engagement in a Small Innovation System

Academic–industry engagement is often measured by formal indicators such as patents, spin-offs, contract research, and R&D collaborations. This study examines broader forms of engagement among academics using survey data and person-centred cluster analysis of ten engagement activities. The strongest empirical distinction was between lower and higher engagement. As a secondary exploratory interpretation, four profile labels were used to describe possible engagement configurations: limited-engagement academics, public/applied collaborators, training-and-consulting bridges and formal industry R&D collaborators. These labels are treated as interpretive classifications rather than fixed or naturally occurring categories. The profiles differed mainly by discipline and prior industry experience, while differences by gender, seniority, university location, institutional scale and academic rank were not significant. Formal industry R&D collaborators reported higher applied research, commercialisation, hard outcomes and funding activity, whereas training-and-consulting bridges reported stronger soft outcomes. The findings suggest that academic human infrastructure in Iceland and comparable small innovation systems extends beyond formal R&D and commercialisation to include public/applied, training-based, consulting-based and teaching-related forms of knowledge mobilisation.