Criteria for Empowering Innovation in Higher Education

Although academic staff have a key role to play in innovation at higher education institutions (hEIs), current innovation adoption among academic staff is disappointing. Most curricula at hEIs are stalled in the traditional pedagogical model of knowledge transmission for teaching and learning with little exploration of technologies for innovative/inventive outputs. This article explores the essential issues of innovation/invention in higher education and provides criteria for empowering innovation. Starting from reflections and perspectives on innovation at South African hEIs and the theories on innovative problem solving, the article provides arguments on multiple issues of innovation/invention that culminate in crucial criteria for innovation. The real dilemma for innovation is caused by external and macro-level factors that require the analysis of existing business models. The management of HEIs have to take into account the underlying barriers, such as knowledge of patenting and academic valorisation, when they create policies that encourage academic staff to explore innovative endeavours.