Article by Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, published as part of the debate on 'Capitalism and the University' on the openDemocracy website.

16 December 2011
 

It has surprised few that since coming to power the Cameron government has pursued an agenda which included pressing for much stronger links between university and business. The justification given is a simple one – that, to enhance our economic competitiveness in these difficult times, we need to become better at commercialising scientific and other academic research to help fuel economic growth. This is a perspective that has been gaining increasing support among policy-makers in the UK (and elsewhere) for over 20 years. But there are many flaws in this thesis – with the strongest evidence of problems coming from academic research itself.

The full article can be accessed at:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/stuart-parkinson/science-and-corporate-university-in-britain

All the articles in this debate can be accessed at:
www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/collections/capitalism-and-university