University, Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Paperback)

by Jennifer Washburn (Author)
Key Phrases: proprietary restrictions, direct financial stake, academic investigators, Bayh-Dole Act, United States, University of California (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
American universities are the envy of the world, but they may be on the brink of discarding the very values and practices that have made them so successful, argues journalist Washburn, as secretive connections between private industry and the academy have begun to "undermine the foundation of public trust on which all universities depend." Washburn has a muckraker's keen eye for scandals and coverups; her examples of academic research suppressed in the name of corporate profits will startle readers. Not content with merely drawing back the curtains on the sordid world of the increasingly revenue-centered university, Washburn argues that the recent partnerships between schools and businesses rarely generate the financial windfall that they promise, leaving educational institutions and state legislatures with strapped resources and hollow rhetoric about creating the next Silicon Valley. While this focus on job creation (or the lack thereof) is the least sensational element of the book, it is the most timely and important, and Washburn's coup de grace is to show that even private industrial leaders and economic pragmatists like Alan Greenspan have begun to criticize the decline of traditional liberal arts education and the rise of the corporate university as economically and socially disastrous. Washburn offers a few modest and thoughtful prescriptions for saving higher education, but this book is more likely to be read for the illnesses it lucidly diagnoses. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"A heartfelt, well-documented expose of a major rip-off that debases education in several important ways." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Jennifer Washburn has written a provocative, timely, deeply researched book about the ongoing corporate take-over of universities." -- Mark Edmundson, author of Teacher and Why Read?

"Washburn has done a splendid job of marshalling the evidence for this disturbing indictment." -- Marcia Angell, author of The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to do About It --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (August 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465090524
• ISBN-13: 978-0465090525
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,315 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Books > Nonfiction > Education > Funding
  #45 in	Books > Nonfiction > Education > Education Theory > Assessment
  #87 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Education > By Level > College

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars University Inc: Where do we go from here?, March 25, 2005

By	Donald "Don" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: University, Inc: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Hardcover)

Over the last several decades Federal and State governments, despite promises to the contrary, have gradually withdrawn much, if not almost all, support from public and private colleges and universities. As a result, institutions of higher learning have had to turn increasingly to corporate and philanthropic 'gifts' and industry contracts in order to survive and attract students and faculty. Instead of giving primary focus to training, education, scholarship and research, our colleges and universities have had to market themselves as 'products worth purchasing by the consumer---the parents, students, donors and alumni and corporations. Both science and humanities faculty are now being encouraged to become entrepreneurs rather than merely educators and have to seek ways to profit directly from their intellectual and technical pursuits. "University Inc" is a highly informative, well-written, if sometimes anecdotal, investigative report about the most egregious cases of commodifying higher education and of corporate influence over university polices and educational practices. It is an easy-to-read book that has been written to aggravate and challenge the reader. Sometimes it gets a bit too personal, but its a lot better read than a collection of dry data supporting the contention that universities have gone overboard in permitting the business world to dictate academic and educational policies and programs of research. Washburn's book is a "must read" for anyone interested in the future of higher education.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Investigation of the Modern University, April 23, 2005

By	John Broesamle - See all my reviews

This review is from: University, Inc: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Hardcover)

Jennifer Washburn has written the most important book about the impact of corporate culture on higher education since Thorstein Veblen's 1918 classic,The Higher Learning in America. Over the past quarter-century, Washburn shows, our leading universities have quietly allowed themselves to be transformed into "patent factories" generating income for the campuses and their corporate backers. The ability of faculty to produce basic knowledge has been compromised by the competitiveness, secrecy, and profit-seeking that characterize private sector (as opposed to traditional academic) research. Because they are less lucrative than the patent-generating disciplines, the social sciences and humanities have been downgraded. Emphasis on teaching, which is expensive and unrelated to patentable research, has diminished. Conflict of interest has run rampant. Washburn devoted the better part of a decade to research for this book, which is a model of investigative journalism. Indeed, I know of no more important study of the American university in print.
John Broesamle
Professor Emeritus of History
California State University, Northridge

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethical Challenges To The Future Of Higher Education, March 27, 2005

By	G. Reid (Roseland, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: University, Inc: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education (Hardcover)

Universities are on a slippery slope taking corporate money. BookTV has an excellent author interview available which was taped on 3/3/05. The author discusses hush orders at universities that are taking corporate money. This taking of corporate money usually does not serve the public good because the university has to serve its coporate master. Academic freedom is damaged.

The author, Jennifer Washburn, explains that historically universities have always placed great importance on academic freedom. Now, with the lust for money, research universities are becoming more like corporations and sometimes invest the university's own endowment into ventures where the university is attempting to profit on its own research. There is a blurring of the lines between business and academic independence.

There is a tension between teaching and research at universities. Teaching has been downsized with more resources going into research.

There is a need for much more stringent conflict-of-interest rules. Unfortunately, some professors have their own business ventures on the side and are bleeding research results into the business ventures.