The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Entrepreneurial Universities: A Study of Higher Education Institutions in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of entrepreneurial universities and the provision of entrepreneurship education in Turkey. It does so via a 10.67 response rate questionnaire survey of all 206 universities in Turkey, conducted online in August 2020. The results revealed that those Turkish HEIs that responded (i) have a good understanding of what Entrepreneurial universities are and are in the transformation process, (ii) are involved in entrepreneurial activities to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, (iii) have or expect to have financial challenges as a result of the pandemic and believe that entrepreneurship is one of the key factors to survive in the market, and (iv) are fully supporting online education as a result of the COVID-19 crises, though much needs to be done to improve the current performance. Thus, this study addresses a critical gap in the body of understanding on the impact of the pandemic and suggests that it might be creating the conditions that will encourage Turkish universities to become more entrepreneurial. This has relevance for policymakers, university managers, entrepreneurship academics, and industry. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.