Study program innovation in the Triple Helix context: the case of cooperative study programs at a German university of applied sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand how Triple Helix linkages foster study program innovation at the micro-level and how the entrepreneurial university shapes support structures and processes to foster this innovation at the meso-level. We draw on the case of cooperative study programs from a German university of applied sciences. We selected business administration and nursing as two different disciplinary examples. Cooperative study programs are delivered partly at university and partly in industry and illustrate the hybridity that shapes the knowledge transfer at a university. Our study draws on semi-structured interviews with professors, industry representatives, students and policy makers as well as on pertinent documents. Our data show that Triple-Helix interactions generate program innovations and, depending on the discipline, have a focus on a Double Helix. In addition, the study shows the processes and their limitations by which teaching is transferred in partnership with industry in the entrepreneurial university context.