Irreconcilable Differences:  The Corporatization of Canadian Universities

Brownlee, Jamie

doi:10.22215/etd/2014-10235

Cited by 9 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 130 publications

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“…The need to achieve tenure has influenced faculty decisions, priorities, and activities since the concept first became popular (Wolverton, 1998). Recently, however, an emphasis on quantitative performance metrics (Van Noorden, 2010), increased competition for static or reduced federal research funding (e.g., NIH, NSF, and EPA), and a steady shift toward operating public universities on a private business model (Plerou, et al , 1999; Brownlee, 2014; Kasperkevic, 2014) are creating an increasingly perverse academic culture. These changes may be creating problems in academia at both individual and institutional levels (Table 1).…”

Section: Perverse Incentives In Research Academia: the New Normal?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A core mission of American colleges and universities has been “service to the public,” and this goal will be more difficult to reach as universities morph into profit centers churning out patents and new products (Faust, 2009; Mirowski, 2011; Brownlee, 2014; Hinkes-Jones, 2014; Seligsohn, 2015; American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2016). Until the late 2000s, research institutions and universities went on a building spree fueled by borrowing, with an expectation that increased research funding would allow them to further boost research productivity—a cycle that went bust after the 2007–2008 financial crash (Stephan, 2012a).…”

Section: Perverse Incentives In Research Academia: the New Normal?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic Research in the 21st Century: Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition

Edwards

Roy

2017

Environmental Engineering Science

482

366

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Over the last 50 years, we argue that incentives for academic scientists have become increasingly perverse in terms of competition for research funding, development of quantitative metrics to measure performance, and a changing business model for higher education itself. Furthermore, decreased discretionary funding at the federal and state level is creating a hypercompetitive environment between government agencies (e.g., EPA, NIH, CDC), for scientists in these agencies, and for academics seeking funding from all sources—the combination of perverse incentives and decreased funding increases pressures that can lead to unethical behavior. If a critical mass of scientists become untrustworthy, a tipping point is possible in which the scientific enterprise itself becomes inherently corrupt and public trust is lost, risking a new dark age with devastating consequences to humanity. Academia and federal agencies should better support science as a public good, and incentivize altruistic and ethical outcomes, while de-emphasizing output.

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Section: Perverse Incentives In Research Academia: the New Normal?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Perverse Incentives In Research Academia: the New Normal?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic Research in the 21st Century: Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition

Edwards

Roy

2017

Environmental Engineering Science

482

366

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although the corporatization of universities seems a contemporary concern, ‘there has never been a period in modern history when universities have been completely free from capital's influence or untouched by corporate practices’ (Brownlee, , p. 5). Indeed, universities have a long history of serving the practical interests of business.…”

Section: Clarifying the Concept Of Corporatizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as Brownlee () points out, the fact of this long‐standing relationship does not necessarily constitute corporatization. What does constitute corporatization are the ‘processes, decisional criteria, expectations, organizational cultures, and operating practices that are taken from the modern business corporation, as characterized by the entry of the university into marketplace relationships and by the use of market strategies in university decision making’ (Brownlee, , p. 5). For Brownlee (), what has changed ‘is the nature and extent of the penetration of the university by the corporate economy’ (p. 5).…”

Section: Clarifying the Concept Of Corporatizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What does constitute corporatization are the ‘processes, decisional criteria, expectations, organizational cultures, and operating practices that are taken from the modern business corporation, as characterized by the entry of the university into marketplace relationships and by the use of market strategies in university decision making’ (Brownlee, , p. 5). For Brownlee (), what has changed ‘is the nature and extent of the penetration of the university by the corporate economy’ (p. 5). One of the more obvious trends is the increasing importance given to building up and preferentially advantaging the ‘STEM’ disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and medicine) with more scholarships, new buildings, and new laboratories and infrastructure.…”

Section: Clarifying the Concept Of Corporatizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Philosophy Lost’: Inquiring into the effects of the corporatized university and its implications for graduate nursing education

Springer

Clinton

2017

Nursing Inquiry

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Drawing on a comprehensive, pan-national analysis of the corporatization of Canadian universities, as well as the notions of 'parrhesiastic' mentorship and practice, the authors examine the effects of the corporatized university, its implications for graduate nursing education and nursing's relative silence on the subject. With the preponderance of business interests, the increasing dependence of universities on industry funding, cults of efficiency, research intensivity, and the pursuit of profit so prevalent in today's corporatized university, we argue that philosophical presuppositions so crucial to critical teaching, research, and reflection on nursing as a discipline are troublingly losing ground. We lament the erosion and fragmentation of philosophy, politics, and ethics as foundations for graduate education, which are increasingly perceived as less valuable, problematic, and in some cases, even burdensome. The effect of corporatization is the suppression of the critical engagement required of faculty in the everyday workings of institutions. We argue that, when the ideals of intellectual freedom, academic responsibility, duty, and obligation, as supported by philosophical thought, are smothered by the normalizing power of corporatized research agendas, philosophical approaches to inquiry and knowledge development become marginalized as scholars find themselves floundering in the face of a seeming 'philosophy lost'.

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Making hope possible rather than despair convincing: Possibilities and proposals to revitalize public serving universities in Canada

Polster

2023

Canadian Review of Sociology

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Writing this paper has been difficult. Since drafting the first of its many versions, I have been unable to commit to a position on the question of hope for Canada's public serving universities. On the one hand, I believe strongly in the public service mission and potential of our universities. On the other hand, I despair of the abhorrent past of these institutions and of the continued and intensifying corporatization of them (Brownlee, 2015;Hampton, 2016; Thobani, 2021). As I cannot, in good conscience, make an unequivocal case either for hope or for despair, I have opted instead to try to "make hope possible rather than despair convincing" by providing three reasons to believe that the public serving nature of our universities can be preserved. These are some recent hopeful developments in our universities, persisting features of our universities that can give us hope, and a more hopeful and potentially more fruitful approach to renewing our universities' public service. I offer these reasons not to convince readers that the future of our public serving universities' is assured, but to cultivate hope that this can still be achieved and, thereby, stimulate the reflection, discussion, and action that are needed to make this happen.At the outset, I emphasize that when referring to "preserving our public serving universities," I am speaking specifically about resisting and reversing their increasingly corporate nature. While it is absolutely the case that for our universities to be truly public serving we need also to overcome their colonial, racist, and sexist natures, I do not directly address these aspects of our universities here. This is due in part to limitations of space. It is due also to my conviction that unless we also transform the corporate nature of our universities, these other liberatory projects will be diminished, if not neutralized or undermined. 1 There are at least two recent developments in our universities that can provide some hope-and leverage-for the struggle against corporatization. First is the burgeoning wellness movement on campuses across Canada and elsewhere. This involves the production and resourcing of a broad

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Irreconcilable Differences: The Corporatization of Canadian Universities

Cited by 9 publications

References 130 publications

Academic Research in the 21st Century: Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition

Academic Research in the 21st Century: Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition

‘Philosophy Lost’: Inquiring into the effects of the corporatized university and its implications for graduate nursing education

Making hope possible rather than despair convincing: Possibilities and proposals to revitalize public serving universities in Canada

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