Search results

The purpose of this study is to assess the contributions of graduate research to social innovation and change for learning and improved transdisciplinary practice. Universities, as centers of teaching and research, face high demand from society to address urgent social and environmental challenges. Faculty and students are keen to use their research to contribute to social innovation and sustainable development. As part of the effort to increase societal impact, research approaches are evolving to be more problem-oriented, engaged and transdisciplinary. Therefore, new approaches to research evaluation are also needed to learn whether and how research contributes to social innovation, and those lessons need to be applied by universities to train and support students to do impactful research and foster an impact culture.

This paper uses a theory-based evaluation method to assess the contributions of three completed doctoral research projects. Each study documents the project’s theory of change (ToC) and uses qualitative data (document review, surveys and interviews) to test the ToC. This paper uses a transdisciplinary research (TDR) quality assessment framework (QAF) to analyze each projects’ design and implementation. This paper then draws lessons from the individual case studies and a comparative analysis of the three cases on, namely, effective research design and implementation for social transformation; and training and support for impactful research.

Each project aimed to influence government policy, organizational practice, other research and/or the students’ own professional development. All contributed to many of their intended outcomes, but with varying levels of accomplishment. Projects that were more transdisciplinary had more pronounced outcomes. Process contributions (e.g. capacity-building, relationship-building and empowerment) were as or more important than knowledge contributions. The key recommendations are for: researchers to design intentional research, with an explicit ToC; higher education institutions (HEI) to provide training and support for TDR theory and practice; and HEIs to give more attention to research evaluation.

This is the first application of both the outcome evaluation method and the TDR QAF to graduate student research projects, and one of very few such analyses of research projects. It offers a broader framework for conceptualizing and evaluating research contributions to social change processes. It is intended to stimulate new thinking about research aims, approaches and achievements.

The purpose of this article is to determine the factors in the context of entrepreneurship that are evident in Ecuador, a country that has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship worldwide with 34% according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) (2019).

A qualitative study was carried out with 39 cases, applying in-depth personal interviews and focus groups to selected cases in the main cities of Ecuador.

The results suggest that “mumpreneurship”, copreneurship and sustainable thinking arise in response to the environment. Deepening then in the perspective of the 5M proposes by Brush et al. (2009) that give us a framework of the macroenvironment of women entrepreneurship and offers a holistic understanding of women's entrepreneurship, adding a sixth “M” which is “Environmental Thinking” or the environmental thinking that is present in the current context.

This article is one of the first to analyse the context of female entrepreneurship in Ecuador and determine the context factors that influence the identification of opportunities and the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. It also presents the expectations and challenges of the women who shape the authors’ case studies and give voice to Ecuadorian women. Consequently, this research will support the configuration of policies that supports each of the stages of women's entrepreneurial processes.

Este artículo pretende determinar los factores del contexto del emprendimiento que se evidencian en el Ecuador, país que ostenta la tasa más alta de emprendimiento femenino a nivel mundial con un 34% de acuerdo al GEM (2019).

Se realizó un estudio cualitativo con 39 casos, aplicando entrevistas personales a profundidad y grupos focales a casos seleccionados en las principales ciudades del Ecuador.

Los resultados sugieren que el “mumpreneurship”, el copreneurship y el pensamiento sostenible surgen como respuesta al entorno. Profundizando entonces en la perspectiva de las 5Ms propuesta por Brush et al. (2009) que ofrece una comprensión holística del emprendimiento de mujeres, añadiendo una sexta “M” que es el “Medioambiental Thinking” o el pensamiento ambiental que está presente en el contexto estudiado.

Este artículo es uno de los primeros en analizar el contexto del emprendimiento femenino en Ecuador y determinar los factores del contexto que influyen en la identificación y en la explotación de oportunidades emprendedoras. Además presenta las expectativas y retos de las mujeres que configuran nuestros casos de estudio y dan voz a las mujeres ecuatorianas. En consecuencia nuestra investigación servirá de apoyo para la configuración de políticas que apoyen cada una de las etapas del proceso emprendedor de las mujeres.