How academic coworking spaces support the missions of entrepreneurial universities: a multiple case study in France

Academic Coworking Spaces (ACS) have become increasingly visible within universities engaging in entrepreneurial activities, yet their institutional role remains understudied in both coworking and entrepreneurial university research. Existing scholarship tends to emphasize either pedagogical or entrepreneurial dynamics without examining how these hybrid socio-spatial infrastructures support the broader missions of entrepreneurial universities. This study addresses this gap by conceptualizing ACS as boundary-spanning organizational arrangements through which universities mediate teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and external engagement. Drawing on a comparative multi-case study of twelve ACS across three French universities, we develop a typology that integrates existing classifications with two emergent ACS types identified in our data. We analyze how spatial configurations, animator roles, and governance arrangements shape the ways ACS facilitate pedagogical experimentation, interdisciplinary collaboration, early-stage innovation, and ecosystem participation. Our findings show that ACS are not mere adaptations of commercial coworking models but differentiated infrastructures embedded within the multi-mission strategies of entrepreneurial universities. The study advances an institutional framework for understanding how ACS reconfigure work practices and boundary relations in universities seeking to expand their societal and innovative functions.