Boundaries and Quandaries: How Professors Negotiate Market Relations

Closer university-market relations are evidenced in increased university patenting, the formation of start-up companies, and partnerships with industry. They are part of a state and policy effort to link science and engineering to the market, thereby developing new technologies, stimulating economic growth, and creating new jobs. Yet the blurring of boundaries between the two institutions creates quandaries for faculty and administrators. Using a National Science Foundation database and interviews, this article explores the effects of redrawn boundaries, the need to negotiate disputed boundaries, and the role of start-up companies in the new academic environment.