Abstract:

The roles played by universities have changed dramatically, especially over recent decades. This is a global phenomenon. Since the 1980s, changes have been in the direction of the inclusion of knowledge dissemination and transfer and not only of development of human capital and knowledge creation.  These changes in roles correspond with the evolution of economic growth theories from neo-classical theories to neo-Schumpeterian economic growth theories. The latter economic theories place emphasis on the importance of innovation and especially the impact of innovation systems on economic growth.  Universities play an important role in these innovation systems and, in order to successfully contribute to the performance of an innovation system, universities should manage knowledge dissemination effectively. The performance of the South African innovation system needs to improve in order to address the high rates of poverty and unemployment.  In this article South African universities are evaluated to determine how they have been changing to include the role of knowledge dissemination. The importance of this paper lies in the contribution to evolutionary economics literature on the changing role of universities in innovation systems. The paper is further intended to raise awareness of the changing roles of universities’ contribution to the innovation system of South Africa.