Analyzing the relationship between graduate theses of universities and the competitive industries in their regions

Universities are working to carry out activities such as technology transfer, patent licensing and consultancy along with their traditional teaching and research activities. Universities are also developing strategies to increase the contribution of these activities to their region and national economy, so the importance of universities' regional development-oriented studies is increasing. In this study, the relationship between universities and the most competitive industries in their regions are analyzed with the graduate theses of universities focusing on those industries. Twenty- six universities, which are regularly included in seven Entrepreneurial and Innovative University Index (EIUI) rankings and their regions were selected. The strongest and the most competitive sectors in the manufacturing industry of the selected regions were determined by the Balassa RCA Index and Foreign Trade Balance Index (TBI). The number of graduate theses related to those sectors are divided by the number of academicians and a score is obtained. Universities are ranked according to this score. As a result, the relationship between the graduate theses of universities and the competitive industries of their regions were interpreted according to this ranking. Also, this ranking was compared with the GYUE rankings of the universities and the similarities were interpreted.