Institutional entrepreneurs in higher professional education

Universities (of applied sciences) are the driving force behind innovation and knowledge development in today's Western European society. But academics need an incentive to actively realize knowledge sharing (Sormani, E. & Rossano-Rivero, S. 2022). Moreover, in their contacts with the professional field, academics are more focused on the success of their students than on the exchange of knowledge (Frederik & Van der Sijde 2022). Stimulating innovation and knowledge exchange is strongly influenced by the opportunities offered by the educational institution (Cabrera, E. F., & Cabrera, A., 2005). And the program director is the central pivot in this. He or she is responsible for optimizing the work processes and the deployment of people and resources. In this paper we report on collected interviews of 25 program directors about their possibilities and obstacles to being innovative with their team.