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Based on interviews (N=146) conducted with academic actors from 2013 to 2017, this article investigates to what extend the academic affiliation shapes the conditions of possibility for partnerships between academics in the Humanities and Social Sciences (N=51) and non-academic actors, in a comparative perspective between Syracuse University (USA) and Paris Nanterre (France). The status of academic (tenured) is underlined as the main asset in terms of security and autonomy of work. On the other hand, some professional logics, driven by important transformation of the university organizations (especially in France) and academic norms, are presented as strong constraints, although modulated by disciplinary effects. Taking into account the growing role of the university of affiliation in the differentiation of working conditions and the access to professional resources (funding, partners, recognition), different strategies are implemented by the academics. These strategies are characterized by the adoption - with or without adhesion - of entrepreneurial logics, as a way of creating by oneself the favorable conditions to develop partnerships. Academics then seek to develop their own funds and become more dependent on private resources or competitive calls for projects, in order to finance their partnership projects, or even to use them to finance their other activities.