Higher Education Leadership
Explore real-world insights, reflect on your practice, and find inspiration for actionable change
Higher Education Leadership is a collection of 24 articles that were originally published in the online EXPRESS magazine. HE leaders can use these international insights to reflect on their own practice and also create actions for change that are tailored to their personal and organisational contexts.
EXPRESS is the online magazine published three times a year by the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network. Since its launch in 2018, it has established itself as a dynamic and inclusive global platform, featuring contributions from authors in 67 countries.Entrepreneurial Mindset Network is an inclusive, international community of practice where anyone can learn to use entrepreneurial behaviours and make their unique contribution to the world.Paul Coyle is the Founder and Executive Director of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network and the editor of the Express magazine. He is an expert in the entrepreneurial mindset, innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and organisational change.
RI:SE Mindset Development Framework
To date 24 articles have been published in EXPRESS on the theme of Higher Education Leadership.Use the Network's RI:SE Mindset Development Framework to support your personal and organisational development. RI:SE stands for Reflect & Initiate : Scale & Excel.Reflect & Initiate: use the real-life lessons from the Express magazine articles and executive summary to Reflect on your personal goals and to Initiate actions to strengthen your entrepreneurial behaviours.Scale and Excel: the Network's premium development services enable leaders to Scale entrepreneurial ways of working, building from individuals to teams, and creating a culture in which everyone can Excel.
Executive Summary
An analysis of all the articles reveals the following common challenges and practical solutions suggested by the authors:
Global Evidence Base: The collection spans higher education institutions across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, drawing on real-world practitioner case studies and reflections.Core Institutional Purpose: The studies explore how cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset enables universities to drive institutional transformation, enhance graduate employability, and strengthen regional civic engagement.The "Start-Up" Bottleneck: A widespread challenge is bureaucratic inertia, where universities remain trapped in an isolated "start-up" phase rather than systematically scaling enterprise across all strategy and operations.Structural & Cultural Obstacles: Leaders consistently face rigid departmental silos, deep-seated risk aversion, and global ranking metrics that heavily prioritise international research outputs over local place-based impact.Dynamic Leadership & Management: To overcome these barriers, leaders must flex dynamically between inspirational leadership (coaching and motivating staff) and structured management (enabling problem-solving and establishing clear task instructions).The Civic & "Living" University: Institutions are encouraged to break isolation by co-creating binding Civic University Agreements and leveraging Triple or Quadruple Helix partnerships with local government, industry, and civil society.Dismantling Silos: Authors advocate for establishing interdisciplinary "Contamination Labs", embedding enterprise training across non-business disciplines, and adopting dual education models combining study with company apprenticeships.Fostering "Fail Safer" Spaces: Leaders are prompted to audit whether campus culture penalizes failure or actively creates "fail safer" environments where calculated risk-taking and experimentation are supported.Innovation as a "Team Sport": The framework encourages treating organisational innovation as a collaborative, multidisciplinary team effort.Catalyst for Action: Ultimately, the authors encourage higher education executives to move beyond identifying systemic problems and take direct, context-tailored action to lead change.
Higher Education Leadership Articles
Thank you to the authors of these global insights on Higher Education Leadership for taking the time to share their inspiring stories from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tajikistan and the USA.Click on any image to read the article on screen or to download a PDF.
Copyright and Licensing Notice
These open-access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, on condition that the original author and publisher are properly credited.The recommended citations are:Abbas, J. (2024). Building entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 7(3). https://express-volume-7.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Javaria Abbas (Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan)Barakat, H., Bastian, B., Chan, C., and Coyle, P. (2021). Student entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 4(3). https://express-volume-4.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Hala Barakat (AUC School of Business, Egypt) and Bob Bastian (Università di Pavia, Italy) and Cyron Chan (CEO Class, Hong Kong) and Paul Coyle (Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, France)Brambilla, R. (2019). The living university. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 2(1). https://express-volume-2.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Roberto Brambilla (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy)Brambilla, R. (2020). The power of an entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 3(1). https://express-volume-3.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Roberto Brambilla (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy)Cavicchi, A. (2025). Making universities more open and responsive to societal challenges. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24002589
Alessio Cavicchi (Università di Pisa, Italy)Coyle, P. (2019). Entrepreneurship education in South Africa. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 2(1). https://express-volume-2.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Paul Coyle (Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, France)Coyle, P. (2020). Flexing between leadership and management. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 3(1). https://express-volume-3.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Paul Coyle (Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, France)Coyle, P. (2021). Why the entrepreneurial mindset is more important than ever in Higher Education. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 4(1). https://express-volume-4.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Paul Coyle (Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, France)Coyle, P. (2025). Scaling higher education using the entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23976301
Paul Coyle (Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, France)Crammond, R. (2022). The entrepreneurial university: processes & principles. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 5(3). https://express-volume-5.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Robert Crammond (University of the West of Scotland)Dobers, P. (2018). Higher education leadership. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 1(1). https://express-volume-1.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Peter Dobers (Södertörn University, Sweden)Dutta, D. (2024). Strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 7(3). https://express-volume-7.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Dev Dutta (University of New Hampshire, USA)Ghazali, A.J. (2023). Role of universities in emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 6(2). https://express-volume-6.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Abdul Jalil Ghazali (Management and Science University, Malaysia)Hadhi, R., Joseph, S., & Koswatte, I. (2024). A discussion of the entrepreneurial environment in Sri Lanka. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 7(1). https://express-volume-7.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Shehani Joseph, Isuru Koswatte and Rushdi Hadhi (NSBM Green University, Sri Lanka)Leach, A. (2023). Civic universities and the needs of local communities. Entrepreneurial
Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 6(2). https://express-volume-6.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Adam Leach (National Civic Impact Accelerator, England)Mukhtorov, S. (2023). Business innovation and social entrepreneurship in Central Asia. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 6(3). https://express-volume-6.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Saidqosim Mukhtorov (Institute of Economy and Trade of TSUC, Tajikistan)Nurmatov, A. (2026). Entrepreneurship education in Uzbekistan. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23806987
Azamat Nurmatov (Team University, Uzbekistan)Omar, Z. (2020). The best thing about being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 3(1). https://express-volume-3.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Zohra Omar (Mentoring Hub, Pakistan)Phi, G. (2025). Innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability in tourism. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 8(1). https://zenodo.org/records/23946914
Giang Phi (VinUniversity, Vietnam)Price, A. (2019). A champion for entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 2(3). https://express-volume-2.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Alison Price (Enterprise Educators, England)Salihagić, A. (2023). Role of universities in emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 6(1). https://express-volume-6.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Admir Salihagić (International Burch University, Bosnia and Herzegovina)Shaw, E. (2021). The journey of the entrepreneurial university. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 4(1). https://express-volume-4.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Eleanor Shaw (Strathclyde University, Scotland)Trapasso, R. (2022). Responding to the needs of cities and regions. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 5(1). https://express-volume-5.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Raffaele Trapasso (OECD, France)Turk, M. (2023). A European Alliance for Dual Education EU4Dual. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 6(3). https://express-volume-6.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Marko Turk (PAR University of Applied Studies, Croatia)Villas, J. (2022). Research, innovation and community development in the Philippines. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 5(3). https://express-volume-5.entrepreneurial-mindset.network
Jonas Villas (Leyte Normal University, the Philippines)Yusifova, K. (2026). Shaping the future of Azerbaijan - the entrepreneurial mindset and business ethics. Entrepreneurial Mindset Network: Express Magazine, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23888116
Khatira Yusifova (Baku Engineering University, Azerbaijan)
Editorial Note: To provide a unified overview of these global perspectives, the executive summary was synthesised and structured using Google Gemini under human editorial oversight. Readers are encouraged to download the original author PDFs for full context.
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