Entrepreneurial vision and Brazil’s system of higher education assessment

Purpose This paper aims to propose a performance measurement system to evaluate the key aspects of entrepreneurial activities in Brazilian universities. Design/methodology/approach This study was developed in two phases. Both phases consisted of a survey sent to Brazilian universities (public, private and not-for-profit) whose technology transfer offices (TTO) had contributed to the annual report by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI, 2015), which evaluates the implementation of the Innovation Law. Multiple correspondence analysis was used to analyze the answers. Findings A set of 13 indicators and 13 characteristics of the organizational structure of the institutions was identified for the purpose of evaluating the level of development of the entrepreneurship activities. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study relates to the low quality of the survey responses. It was not possible to qualitatively validate all the selected indicators. This is because universities are still not internally organized, because the higher authorities do not enforce the collection and treatment of data based on the existing legislation. Originality/value The results of this study, with the definition of indicators, can be used to inform public policy for the stimulation of entrepreneurship in other countries and regions.