'Academia Inc.' - The Perspective of University Presidents

Oct 15, 2026

Erosion of public funding has pushed Canadian universities to diversify financing through entrepreneurial initiatives that critics interpret as privatization. Faculty and student stakeholders, especially in the arts, accuse senior administrators of distorting academic values. The study captures and explains views of 89 Canadian university presidents using a 60-item questionnaire covering academic values, funding, institutional direction, and the impact of the corporate sector.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages31

Reading Time1 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Résumé

Introduction

# 'Academia Inc.':The Perspective of University Presidents JOAN MOUNT &CHARLES BÉLANGER Laurentian University ## ABSTRACT With the erosion of public funding,Canadian universities haveincreasingly diversified their funding base.An upsurge of entrepreneurialinitiatives has displayed significant earmarks of privatization which havealarmed some faculty and student stakeholders,drawing reactions partic-ularly from among those from the arts domains.They accuse senior uni-versity administrative officers of distorting academic values.This study isan attempt to capture and understand the views of presidents of Canadianuniversities(N=89)through a 60-item questionnaire focused in broadterms on academic values,funding,institutional directions,and theimpact of the corporate sector. ## RESUMÉ A cause de l'érosion des fonds publics,les universités canadiennesont du diversifier leur base de financement.Ce nouvel espritd'entrepreneuriat a donné des signes marqués de privatisation qui ontprovoqué des remous dans certains groupes de professeurs etd’étudiants,et surtout ceux appartenant au domaine des arts.Lescontestataires accusent la haute administration des établissements de déformer les valeurs universitaires.Cette étude a tenté de cerner et decomprendre les points de vue des recteurs canadiens(N=89)au moyend’un questionnaire portant sur 60 points concernant les valeurs,lefinancement,les orientations universitaires de meme que l'influence dusecteur des entreprises. ## INTRODUCTION The past two decades have seen universities operate increasingly inan environment of diminished financial support from government,amidescalating demands on their resources.They find themselves in a situa-tion marked by government deficit control,heavier demands on the pub-lic purse,and competing priorities for government support.Consequently,most institutions of higher learning point to a decreasingability to sustain ongoing obligations,and less latitude to develop newinitiatives.Expected to maintain as always the institutional and academicheritage,to develop quickly and flexibly new fields of study and modesof thought,and to embrace the contradictory demands of a rising numberof stakeholders(Clark,1998a,1998b),universities have increasinglyperceived themselves faced with a choice:either prune some of theircore activities or become“entrepreneurial.”In varying degree they haveopted for the latter course. Dramatic declines in government financial support during the 1990sseem to have been the culminating phase of a 20-year trend that saw perstudent funding fall by 36%.Concurrently,full-time student enrollmenthas expanded by 50%(Association of Universities and Colleges ofCanada [AUCC],1999),tuition fees have increased roughly 390%(Statistics Canada,1999),and per student debt at completion has sky-rocketed to an average of $25,000 CAD,as reported by Canada StudentLoan officials.Today,universities command a smaller operating revenuebase in current dollars than at the start of the nineties(AUCC,1999).Tobridge the funding gap,universities have not only had to raise tuitionfees by substantial amounts,but also they have perceived the need toforge corporate partnerships,name buildings after benefactors,channel private money into high-profile programs,and reshape research torespond to the explicit interests of the private sector (Dwyer,1997). This newly manifested entrepreneurship,as some call it (e.g.,Fairweather,1988),has attracted the attention of critics in academia,inCanada and elsewhere(e.g.,Currie &Newson,1998;Etzkowitz &Leydesdorff,1997;Marginson,1997;Slaughter &Leslie,1997;Soley,1996),who feel disquieted by what they perceive as the quick transfor-mation of universities into bottom-line profit centres.They hold the viewthat long-standing academic values have been gravely eroded.Concerned academics here in Canada claim that senior administratorsare fostering the creation of “Academia Incorporated”by letting corpo-rate stakeholders with deep pockets d

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What is the study’s objective and method?

To capture and understand the views of Canadian university presidents (N=89) using a 60-item questionnaire about academic values, funding, institutional directions, and corporate sector influence.

Oct 15, 2026

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