University-enterprise interaction: a critical comparative study of the three public universities of the State of São Paulo

Author(s)

Ana Carolina Spatti

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Limeira, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas
• Defense date: 2017-03-03

Examining board members

Milena Pavan Serafim; Carlos Raul Etulain; Carolina Bagattolli

• Advisor: Milena Pavan Serafim

Abstract

Seeking to empirically understand the "university-enterprise cooperation" object, this study dedicates itself to analyzing the mains strategies and development mechanisms implemented by the three public universities of São Paulo ¿ University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo's State University (UNESP) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) ¿ which boost (or hinder) collaborative activities between such universities and the productive sector. The goal is to understand which means universities have commonly been using to foment new relations and, foremost, to identify the effects of these efforts according to their respective initial proposals. For such, the present study used secondary data collection and analysis methodology, as well as bibliographical revisions, documental research and semi-structured interviews of three managers. Structurally, the research is divided into 3 chapters, besides the introduction and final remarks. The first chapter addresses the process of interaction from a historical perspective, highlighting the characteristics associated to the traditional public university, mainly by which reasons they have frequently been pointed out by several authors as weakened or made frail and, lastly, how the debates regarding interaction between public universities and the productive sector fit in this trajectory. The second chapter discusses the different approaches to the U-E analysis by means of the discussion between the main streams which study the theme. The third chapter presents the particularities of each university, from their creation proposals to their practices on the enterprise interaction field; and details the procedures for conducting the interviews and the information acquired. Results analysis made it possible to realize that, although pertaining to different contexts, the public universities presented a stylized pattern of common strategies to foment relations with the private sector. However, they differ quite drastically in terms of the amount of new contracts. From the interviews it was possible to realize how the institutions are incorporating the debate over U-E interaction and the recommendations from the main streams of discussion about their roll on society. Besides that, several efforts from the university to promote the interaction between them and enterprises have revealed that the U-E relation has not occurred in some research groups and has, indeed, become an institutionalized practice. However, although universities add to their agendas the need to strengthen their role as an institution that promotes innovation, research and technological development in partnership with companies, a discussion about the progress and use of structured methodologies for valuating strategies and promotion instruments seems to have not yet taken place. If, on the one hand, the strengthening of university-enterprise interactions has been reflected on the creation of new institutional mechanisms of knowledge and technological transmission, on the other hand, this signals the need for developing a situational diagnose capable of revealing each university¿s profile regarding this interaction, thus allowing each of them to establish their own set of strategies and incentive mechanisms which fit their specific needs. Different institutions with similar orientations reiterate the need for an auto-critic about this mimetic conduct, which can compromise the autonomy and identity of the university (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/07455-9 - The university-industry cooperation: a critical comparative study of three São Paulo state universities
• Grantee: Ana Carolina Spatti
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master