Existing studies mainly focus on Universities in accomplishing their traditional missions, or they offer a narrow perspective of the TM. The TM is a multidisciplinary, complex, evolving phenomenon linked to the social and economic mission of Universities in a broad sense. Unprecedented challenges have been redesigning the missions of Universities, which are often perceived as being at a crossroads. In recent years, there has been increasing pressure on Universities to shift from focusing primarily on teaching and performing research, and to add an equivocal Third Mission (TM), labelled “a contribution to society”.
