MIOIR Seminar Series with Professor Chris Hayter

Professor Christopher Hayter will discuss graduate experiences of participating in entrepeneurship training for research commercialization

Developing entrepreneurial selves: The experience of graduate students and postdocs participating in entrepreneurship training for research commercialization

Abstract:

How do academic scientists, trained to think like researchers, come to see themselves as entrepreneurs? Drawing on a longitudinal study of 38 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the U.S. National Science Foundation I-Corps program, we frame entrepreneurship training as an identity-related process. Scientists in these programs discover not just whether a market exists for their technology, but whether entrepreneurship is right for them.

Scientists enter these programs with vague, romanticized visions of entrepreneurship built from academic and popular culture rather than commercial reality. Customer discovery forces participants to face less glamourous realities. Some emerge with a clearer, more grounded sense of themselves as entrepreneurs and pursue venture creation. Others conclude, with equal clarity, that entrepreneurship is not their path. Both outcomes represent success, and designing and evaluating entrepreneurship programs without an identity lens means overlooking how these interventions may transform who scientists think they can become.

Speaker Bio:

Chris Hayter is an Associate Professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research examines entrepreneurial behavior among early-career scientists, non-academic career transitions among university postdocs, and the performance of academic entrepreneurship support programs. Before joining Georgia Tech, Chris spent nine years on faculty at Arizona State University and 16 years working as a science and entrepreneurship policy advisor with organizations including the National Academies, Council on Competitiveness, National Governors Association, and New York Academy of Sciences. He also serves as a senior consultant for the World Bank and RTI International and co-founded a software startup. Chris received his PhD from George Washington University and is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Seminar Details:
The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research runs a series of regular seminars given by visiting speakers to Manchester. These seminars are open to anybody who is interested in science, technology and innovation policy and management.

This event is in person for AMBS and UoM staff and students, with an online option available. External participants are welcome to join online via the Microsoft Teams.