This special issue seeks to examine the way academic entrepreneurialism manifests itself in the changing discourses of the notion of "scholarship," its impact on the changing academic profession as well as on the world conditions beyond the academy. It particularly investigates the contexts, rationales, definitions and implications of the discursive field of the "scholarship of application." It comprises four papers which research the changing connections between higher education, society and economy. The papers address development, analysis, and dissemination of theory-, policy-, and practice-related issues that are related to the theme of entrepreneurial university and academic profession and influence the social role and impact of higher education. The four papers contain single or various country cases or institutional cases supporting higher education practices in relation to academic entrepreneurialism and "scholarship of application" (SoA). The special issue, as a whole, offers some informed analysis with a focus on regional, national and institutional policies related to the SoA.