The effects of non-academic work experience on external interaction and research performance

We ask whether academic employees with non-academic work experience differ from their colleagues with respect to interaction with external stakeholders and research performance. We use a science and technical human capital perspective and address the question through an analysis of 4400 survey responses from academic employees in Norwegian universities and colleges. Non-academic work experience is common in all academic fields; it characterises more than half of the tenured academic staff members in Norway. Our analysis indicates that, in general, external interaction is positively influenced by non-academic work experience, in line with prior research. Contrary to expectations, we find few signs of a trade-off or a “punishment” effect of non-academic work experience on scientific productivity. Non-academic work experience is neither significantly related to publication productivity nor share of publications in highly ranked journals, but there are important differences based on the type of previous work experience. The final version of this research has been published in Journal of Technology Transfer. © 2017 Springer Verla