Buying In or Selling Out?: The Commercialization of the American Research University (review)

The commercialization of higher education is of considerable concern to many both within and outside of higher education. Donald Stein's edited book, Buying In or Selling Out? adds to the growing literature that has followed and commented upon this phenomenon. The book emerged from the Sam Nunn/Bank of America Policy Forum at Emory University in 2002 at which the book's chapter authors presented their views and research on that year's conference theme: commercialization in the academy. I attended that conference as a means of informing my own work in this area, and the presenters did not disappoint, nor do most of their chapters in this edited volume.

For those who read and do scholarship on university commercialization, the chapter authors are a veritable who's who list of experts including, among others, Derek Bok, former Harvard president; James Duderstadt, former University of Michigan president; Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine; and Murray Sperber, Professor of English at Indiana University and outspoken critic of college athletics. Sperber is perhaps best known for being temporarily run out of Bloomington a few years back when he dared to publicly criticize the venerable basketball coach, Bob Knight. Furthermore, many of the chapter authors have well-known books on commercialization in higher education or closely related topics that have also recently been published (Angell, 2004; Bok, 2003; Duderstadt & Womak, 2004; Sperber, 2001).

Because the authors touch on ideas from their own books and articles, this 188-page, 13-chapter volume is especially helpful for gaining a broad perspective on the latest literature in the field. Be aware, though, that despite the suggestion of balance in Stein's book title, the majority of the chapters, including the editor's lead article, take a critical, at times condemning, view of the current state of affairs in the American research university.

Among the themes that concerned the authors most were the ways in which commercialization is undermining the public trust. Duderstadt and Bok, for example, argue that universities are failing in their public trust responsibilities by buying into the model of knowledge as an owned commodity, not always freely shared. Duderstadt cites antiquated governance structures as a key source of the problem including lay boards that are ill equipped to deal with the complex challenges of the modern university.

Bok, in his chapter on the benefits and cost of commercialization, worries that, if commercialization forces continue on their current course, the university's most cherished asset, its integrity, will be the costly casualty. He too cites the need for better governance, especially from boards and the faculty, to help presidents hold the line against the allures of profit and high-risk venturing.

Arti Rai, in her chapter on the funding of biomedicine, expresses concern that the patenting and exclusive licensing of basic biomedical technologies to a single company (a common practice with technology transfer) restricts the advancement of science. Access to exclusively licensed technologies by outside researchers is difficult, threatening others' ability to conduct important follow-on research.

Sheldon Krimsky echoes this theme in his chapter on research ethics. He presents research that shows how commercialization is slowing the progress of both basic and applied research. He also points to the need for immediate attention to the conflicts of interest that emerge from commercialization. He argues that simply requiring faculty to disclose their relationship with companies who are funding their research does not go far enough in preserving the integrity of the research process. He shows why this is so through his excellent review of how journals, professional societies, the federal government, research institutes, and universities have fallen short in addressing what kinds of financial relationships are allowable, under what circumstances, and at what levels. He argues that the largely voluntary system of conflict of interest compliance must be made mandatory and persons found violating...