Partnership consensus in triple helix pathways: A challenge for sustainable higher education

Abstract

The study’s purposes are (i) to determine the gender role in the relationship between partnership consensus with the lecturer’s attributes and (ii) to test Etzkowitz’s partnership pathways in determining the role of consensus in mediating the influence of an institution’s sustainable entrepreneurial culture (ISEC) on innovation. This study confirmed that the partnership consensus has no relationship with the education level of male lecturers, while the functional position has one. In contrast, a partnership consensus for female lecturers has no significant relationship with the educational level and functional position. The partnership consensus was able to mediate ISEC’s influence in the Etzkowitz partnership path towards the emergence of innovation to 53% from 30% directly. The quadruple helix in Indonesia was decomposed into a triple helix with a university-government-community and university-industry-community partnership pattern. The conclusions are lecturers’ partnership consensus has no relationship with internal factors, such as education level or functional position, but rather because of the institutional culture that supports increasing innovation capability, namely ISEC. Internal and external partnership consensus triggers innovation significantly. These findings are helpful for higher education (HE) policymakers, where gender equality is crucial to formulate in partnership. Furthermore, HE must build an ISEC to trigger the innovations as a manifestation of HE’s contribution to sustainable regional socio-economic development.