Reframing norms: boundary maintenance and partial accommodations in the work of academic technology transfer

Abstract

Much has been written about the commercialization of academic research and the role of technology transfer (TT) in mobilizing public sector science. Much of this literature maps a process of institutional isomorphism through which the norms of academy and industry are seen to grow increasingly aligned, facilitated, in part, by new organizations such as offices of technology transfer. Yet questions remain about how fulsome this process has been, with some scholars exploring concurrent processes that reinscribe boundaries and clarify important social distinctions between commercial and non-commercial ends. We report the result of a qualitative study of TT professionals in Canada to explore the complex nature of the ‘renormalization’ process. We argue that TT professionals solicit industry involvement but accommodate the demands of industry only in part; in turn, they solicit academic involvement by reframing the demands and priorities of commercialization along more academic lines. Ironically, by reframing the norms of commercialization, TT professionals effectively reinforce boundaries between the academy and industry and secure only a partial accommodation by academics to industrial norms. We conclude by raising questions about the meaning of traditional metrics of commercial success for innovation policy.