Resistance to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Promotion and Tenure Evaluation at Universities

Resistance to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Promotion and Tenure Evaluation at Universities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Social Sciences - Article Resistance to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Promotion and Tenure Evaluation at Universities Christiane Spitzmueller, Theodore Masters-Waage, Allison St. Aubin, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5611435/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Support for innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) in university settings is critical for society to benefit from university research. In a series of three studies, we examine how, when, and why academic promotion systems disincentivize I&E, and what can be done to alleviate misalignment between I&E and what faculty value in promotion. In the first study, we examine whether faculty are rewarded for I&E activities in the promotion and tenure (P&T) process, the primary reward system in universities. Using data from 761 faculty members in STEM disciplines and 4581 ERLs submitted as part of P&T packets, we found that obtaining a patent and discussion of I&E activities in a candidate's external review letters (ERLs) was related to a larger percentage of unfavorable P&T outcomes, including a 68% reduction in the likelihood of a positive vote from the provost for candidates with patents. In the second study, we examine the underlying beliefs driving the perceptions of I&E. A survey of 295 faculty found support for a belief-based model: perceptions of the value and importance of I&E were associated with the extent to which faculty believed social impact and applied research was a goal of science/scientists. In a third study, we compared four easy-to-implement rubric interventions to improve how faculty value I&E in promotion decision-making. Only one led faculty to value I&E more positively, which highlighted the societal benefits of I&E work. In our conclusion, we outline recommendations to address resistance to I&E and help realize the broader impact of science in society by aligning rewards for I&E activities with promotion systems. Scientific community and society/Scientific community Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Interdisciplinary studies Innovation and Entrepreneurship Promotion and Tenure Intellectual Property Science of Science Patents Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files IXEPaperSupplementsNatureSubmission.docx Supplemental information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5611435","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Social Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":392478261,"identity":"22e4246b-b145-47fe-bb47-bb328c56a43f","order_by":0,"name":"Christiane 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In a series of three studies, we examine how, when, and why academic promotion systems disincentivize I\u0026E, and what can be done to alleviate misalignment between I\u0026E and what faculty value in promotion. In the first study, we examine whether faculty are rewarded for I\u0026E activities in the promotion and tenure (P\u0026T) process, the primary reward system in universities. Using data from 761 faculty members in STEM disciplines and 4581 ERLs submitted as part of P\u0026T packets, we found that obtaining a patent and discussion of I\u0026E activities in a candidate's external review letters (ERLs) was related to a larger percentage of unfavorable P\u0026T outcomes, including a 68% reduction in the likelihood of a positive vote from the provost for candidates with patents. In the second study, we examine the underlying beliefs driving the perceptions of I\u0026E. A survey of 295 faculty found support for a belief-based model: perceptions of the value and importance of I\u0026E were associated with the extent to which faculty believed social impact and applied research was a goal of science/scientists. In a third study, we compared four easy-to-implement rubric interventions to improve how faculty value I\u0026E in promotion decision-making. Only one led faculty to value I\u0026E more positively, which highlighted the societal benefits of I\u0026E work. In our conclusion, we outline recommendations to address resistance to I\u0026E and help realize the broader impact of science in society by aligning rewards for I\u0026E activities with promotion systems.","manuscriptTitle":"Resistance to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Promotion and Tenure Evaluation at Universities","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-14 03:34:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5611435/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"88c298ab-14bc-4026-9002-86255fe3cac1","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 14th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":41839406,"name":"Scientific community and society/Scientific community"},{"id":41839407,"name":"Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Interdisciplinary studies"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-06-24T20:40:49+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-14 03:34:09","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5611435","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5611435","identity":"rs-5611435","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}