[SSC] "Science and Innovation" and the public university: a report from the field...

[David Young]

Dear all,

I attended an event yesterday in London which reinforced to me the
importance of what we're doing in the Social Science Centre and other
alternative education projects around the country. The event was the annual
"Science and Innovation Conference" (
http://www.scienceinnovation-conference.co.uk/) which brings together
delegates from STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) disciplines
and industries to discuss research and development.

The usual array of the great and the good were present on the speakers list,
including universities, government ministers, scientific advisers, ex-MPs,
and big defence and energy industry representatives - BAE systems sponsored
the event and BP were present filming a promotional video for their staff
(which incidentally I now feature in as an audience member - maybe I should
request a copy under freedom of information?!). The demographic reflected
among the speakers was, with very few exceptions, white, male, middle-aged.
The atmosphere in one of the sessions was thick with testosterone, with
"ex-industry guys" talking about pushing projects out the gate "hard and
fast", and "killing" what doesn't work. One notable exception was an
excellent presentation from a Sheffield-based project (Big Energy
Upgrade<http://www.yorkshireenergyservices.co.uk/news.html?limit=50&display=20&newsId=4>)
which showcased joint work between the University, a housing association, a
private energy company and local councils to retrofit a local council
housing estate to make homes more energy efficient.

Despite the almost unprecedented levels of funding cuts in HE and wider
society happening right now in the name of austerity, the atmosphere was
generally one of self-congratulatory back-slapping over the "great deal for
science" in the last budget. The fact that the research budget has been
ring-fenced in cash terms was cause for guarded celebration it seems. No
mention was made of the teaching budget being slashed, nor of the HE fee
rises.

Although universities and higher education were a key part of the agenda,
there was no discussion of the "public university" (
http://sociologyatwarwick.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/what-are-we-defending-when-we-defend-public-universities/).
Of course that wasn't the focus of the conference, but there seemed a tacit
acceptance among all involved that universities were there simply to "serve
the needs of industry" - and in particular industries which work in
"strategic sectors" of the economy, namely health, defence and energy. There
was no critique whatsoever of current government policies - indeed,
ex-Labour MP Ian Pearson, a member of the so-called "opposition", expressed
"sympathy" toward a Conservative MP on the panel and in general thought the
government had done a "fairly good job" over the last year.

At one point a member of the audience raised the issue of the place of
social sciences in the STEM world. The response was that social sciences
have a "key" role to play, but the discussion of this was limited to
"convincing the public" about some technological innovation and/or
"behaviour change". As Terry Wassall pointed out to me on Twitter, if the
social sciences are so "key", then why was teaching funding for these
subjects virtually withdrawn?

In a way none of this is surprising, but it's worth occasionally reminding
ourselves of the reality of our situation and how we can go beyond it. I
think it's really important that we and other groups are presenting an
alternative to this view of higher education and society, which sees
economic growth and industry as central, and all else serving these goals.

Cheers,
David.
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