Presenting the Conceptual Model of Innovative University Based on the Meta-Synthesis Method (With Emphasis on Distinction of Entrepreneurship and Innovation)

The concept of innovation is one of the concepts that has been misunderstood in various areas, or confused with concepts such as entrepreneurship, creativity, or change, and has been used synonymously as an adjective for individuals and institutions, especially for the academic institutions. The present study has been conducted with the aim of investigating this concept versus entrepreneurship and also extracting the specific characteristics of the innovative university in the existing literature by a qualitative method. In this regard, the meta-synthesis method has been used as a method to create a new idea or new interpretation of the findings of previous research (26 international scientific articles and 7 domestic articles among 352 papers over a period of fifty years). Consequently, depending on the model deriving from the research, it was identified that one of the key features of an innovative university is multiple interactions, especially with civil society, and also fulfilling the social needs. Therefore, the innovative university is more reminiscent of the concept of an "adaptive university" with an emphasis on adapting to the social needs of a changing environment, rather than merely achieving financial benefits.