Exploring The Role Of Higher Education Institutions In Promoting Entrepreneurial Activities: A Qualitative Study Of Universities In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The expectations placed on higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide education, institutional support, innovation and linkage with external stakeholders and resources are growing in order to support entrepreneurship. This is an exploratory qualitative study which attempts to understanding about promotion of entrepreneurial activities in universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan from the view point of the stakeholders. It is based on 10 voluntary responses to an online questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions from respondents who are involved with seven universities. The participants were five faculty members or entrepreneurship educators, two university administrators or ORIC staff, two researchers or PhD scholars and one student or graduate entrepreneur. A descriptive thematic approach based on Braun and Clarke's six phases for analysis of the responses was adopted. The following 7 themes were identified: entrepreneurship education practices, institutional support mechanisms, entrepreneurial competencies, university–industry collaboration, ecosystem development, barriers, and strategies for improvement. The courses, workshops, seminars, projects, exhibitions and some external partnerships were mentioned by the respondents as means by which universities enable entrepreneurship. They also pointed out that funding constraints, lack of incubation space, lack of applied learning and industry partnership implementation were limiting factors. Findings are preliminary, as the data set is small, the answers are not always fully detailed, industry partners have not been represented separately, and there is no thematic saturation. The study provides a context-sensitive description of reported practices and suggests for further study and institutional development. Keywords: Entrepreneurship Education, Higher Education Institutions, Entrepreneurial University, University–Industry Collaboration, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Qualitative Research