Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus 127 d o o m - a n d - g l o o m to those of us w h i c h , to p a r a p h r a s e G u y N e a v e ' s words, "still cling to the last vestiges of territorial d e m o c r a c y . " Gallagher, Michael. (2000). The Emergence Universities in Australia. of Entrepreneurial Public Canberra, Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Higher Education Division, Occasional Paper Series. Pages: 58. Price: $14.60 A U D (paper). Reviewed by Robert Pike, Queen's University Australia's higher education institutions have probably been subjected during the past thirty years to more radical shifts in organisational forms and loci of control than the higher education sectors of any other western country. In 1973, the C o m m o n w e a l t h [federal] g o v e r n m e n t took over funding responsibilities for most of the institutions, including the universities, and, over time, wound up the various state and federal bodies which had previously acted as buffering agents between government and the academy. Since the late 1980s, when universities and certain other major institutions of postsecondary education were amalgamated in a "unified national system," major policy decisions emanating from federal jurisdiction have included a growing "privatization" of the country's 37 publiclyfunded universities in the sense that heavy reliance on block grant public funding has been replaced, in considerable measure, by reliance on private "self-earned" income, including student fees and contract research for the p r i v a t e sector. T h e p r e s e n t C o m m o n w e a l t h g o v e r n m e n t has greatly increased the pressures on this score. Michael Gallagher who is a public servant with the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA), the federal organization to which the universities answer, took the opportunity of an O E C D Conference held in Paris in S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 to o v e r v i e w the policy settings and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l changes associated with this growth of self-earned income within an increasingly "entrepreneurial" public university sector. This relatively brief, but remarkably detailed, report is the outcome. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume XXX//, No. 3. 2002 128 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus I h a v e r e c e n t l y r e v i e w e d a m a j o r A u s t r a l i a n S e n a t e r e p o r t on t h e public universities for t h e Canadian Journal of Higher Education (see Vol. X X X I I , 1, 2 0 0 2 ; 1 2 8 - 1 3 3 ) . T h a t report w a s o v e r w h e l m i n g l y critical of g o v e r n m e n t policies and strongly p o l e m i c a l , m o s t notably c o n d e m n ing t h e g r o w i n g c o m m o d i f i c a t i o n o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n u n i v e r s i t y sector. G a l l a g h e r ' s m o r e m o d e s t d o c u m e n t e x p l i c i t l y s t a t e s t h a t it d o e s n o t " n e c e s s a r i l y r e f l e c t " the v i e w s o f D E T Y A , but, hardly surprisingly, d o e s f o c u s on outlining a n d c l a s s i f y i n g the m a i n f i n a n c i a l and organisational trends, leaving the readers to f o r m their o w n c o n c l u s i o n s . N o n e t h e l e s s , the introduction stresses that: A u s t r a l i a ' s public universities e x p r e s s a diversity of c u l t u r e s internally but are c o m m o n l y driven by a m i s s i o n to a d v a n c e the public good. M a k i n g m o n e y has not b e c o m e their core b u s i n e s s ; r e v e n u e g e n e r a t i o n is a m e a n s to s u s t a i n i n g the univ e r s i t y ' s b r o a d e r p u r p o s e s , (p. 2) T h i s is n i c e to know, b e c a u s e the d e c l i n e in p u b l i c f u n d i n g of the system — a b o u t 9 0 % o f all university r e v e n u e s in the early 1980s, 6 4 % in 1992 and 5 2 % in 1999 (slightly lower t h a n in C a n a d a overall) — has h a d to be o f f s e t not o n l y by increases in f u l l - f e e tuition r e v e n u e f r o m international a n d s o m e A u s t r a l i a n s t u d e n t s ( u p f r o m 5 % t o 1 0 % o f all r e v e n u e s b e t w e e n 1992 a n d 1999), b u t a l s o i n c r e a s e d t u i t i o n f e e s a n d t o u g h e r r e p a y m e n t s c h e d u l e s f o r t h o s e s t u d e n t s w h o q u a l i f y f o r loans t h r o u g h the Higher Education Contributory S c h e m e ( H E C S ) . Then there are d o n a t i o n s a n d b e q u e s t s , w h i c h G a l l a g h e r calls " l u m p y and l o w " in a c o u n t r y with a p u r p o r t e d limited p h i l a n t h r o p i c culture (p. 17), and, m o s t controversially, the search f o r r e s e a r c h and contract i n c o m e f r o m the private sector. O n a s e c t o r - w i d e basis, all research i n c o m e stood at a b o u t 11% of university r e v e n u e s in 1999, with industry f u n d i n g a c c o u n t i n g f o r a b o u t one-third of this, and g r o w i n g j u s t m a r g i n a l l y f a s t e r t h a n other research r e v e n u e s . Overall, t h e r e is n o e v i d e n t rush by private f i r m s to b e n e f i t f r o m Australian university research e x p e r t i s e and facilities. E x c l u d i n g H E C S r e p a y m e n t s , a third o f A u s t r a l i a n university reve n u e o n a v e r a g e d e p e n d s on t h e a b o v e " e a r n e d i n c o m e " w h i c h G a l l a g h e r n o t e s " i s hard to w i n . . . c a n be volatile and u n c e r t a i n . . . c o s t s f u n d s to earn and w h e n e a r n e d m a y b e a v a i l a b l e o n l y f o r d e s i g n a t e d activities, w i t h The Canadian Journal of Higher Volume XXXII, No. 3, 2002 Education Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus 129 little d i s c r e t i o n f o r the university at l a r g e " ( p . 23). T h i s o b s e r v a t i o n is vital because, in o n e of m a n y i n f o r m a t i v e f o o t n o t e s , he c o m m e n t s that: O n e university has estimated that it costs, on average, across its c o m m e r c i a l activities, 92 cents to earn o n e dollar. T h e r e are also salary, infrastructure and o n - c o s t s for universities w h o s e staff win c o m p e t i t i v e grants for research, and g o v e r n m e n t and i n d u s t r y - f u n d e d collaborative research centres, (p. 2 3 ) T h u s , ironically, w h i l s t r e l i a n c e on e a r n e d i n c o m e v a r i e s d r a m a t i c a l l y a c r o s s t h e s e c t o r — f r o m a l o w o f 1 9 % o f t o t a l r e v e n u e s at t h e Universities of T a s m a n i a and South Australia (excluding o n e small C a t h o l i c institution) to a r e m a r k a b l e 4 7 % at t h e University o f Western Australia — all the e f f o r t to increase earned i n c o m e has had very little, if any, i m p a c t on financial surpluses. True, s o m e universities have been leaders in instituting the f l e x i b l e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l and m a n a g e m e n t s h i f t s required to attract such i n c o m e , others h a v e been " f o l l o w e r s " p u r s u i n g d u b i o u s policies w h i c h institute drastic a c r o s s - t h e - b o a r d c h a n g e s without e v i d e n t financial b e n e f i t and a d o p t i n g internal policies w h i c h redistribute e a r n e d i n c o m e "in such a w a y that the m e t t l e s o m e feel r o b b e d and the m e n d i c a n t are shielded f r o m i d e n t i f y i n g n e w o p p o r t u n i t i e s and p r a c t i c e s " (p. 24). G a l l a g h e r ' s c o m m e n t a r y on t h e s e d i f f e r i n g m a n a g e m e n t styles, his later categorisation of the m a i n f e a t u r e s of the " e m e r g e n t e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l " university, as well as the long check-list p r o p o s e d by t h e N e w S o u t h W a l e s p u b l i c a u d i t o r s f o r i d e n t i f y i n g g o o d p r a c t i c e in u n i v e r s i t i e s ' policies f o r m a n a g e m e n t of paid o u t s i d e w o r k , all p r o v i d e valuable material f o r C a n a d i a n readers, and not least f o r a d m i n i s t r a t o r s of o u r universities s e e k i n g to a u g m e n t their institutions' o w n depleted public i n c o m e s . H o w e v e r , o n e c a n n o t e s c a p e the e v i d e n c e that the culture of m o s t western universities d o e s not sit easily with a scramble for corporate f u n d s particularly. Hence, in a section on "the university as contributor to innovation," a long paragraph is devoted to the findings of an extensive 1999 Australian study o f t e c h n o l o g y t r a n s f e r and research c o m m e r c i a l i s a t i o n which f o u n d user dissatisfaction with university p e r f o r m a n c e . . . d e a d l i n e s missed, lack of clearly-defined contact people, and so on (p. 36). To b e sure, f r o m an entrepreneurial perspective, there seem to have been s o m e The Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume XXXII, No. 3, 2002 130 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus successes — notably, the 65 C o o p e r a t i v e Research Centres ( C R C ' s ) instituted through C o m m o n w e a l t h g o v e r n m e n t p r o g r a m m e s — helping to formalise collaborative research links between universities, g o v e r n m e n t research agencies and industry. T h e latter a p p e a r to have been the m o s t effective in: displacing the culture and values of the lone researcher with a couple of students engaged in the fascinating challenge of curiosity-oriented research by a p u r p o s e f u l l y m a n a g e d and directed interactive research process, designed to produce knowledge of value and applicability to the potential users, (p. 35) But, of course, as in C a n a d a , these are fighting w o r d s for m a n y Australian academics, hence Gallagher quotes a recent government report which speaks of : a m a j o r struggle over the appropriate culture for Australian univ e r s i t y r e s e a r c h . . . M a n y see t h e C R C s a n d o t h e r f o c u s s e d , application-oriented m e c h a n i s m s as the harbingers of a n e w and effective d a w n for Australian science. Others resent and resist the intrusion of commercial values into the university arena and the steady loss of independence and a u t o n o m y " (p. 35). In any case, as s h o w n in the a b o v e quotation, the purported benefits here are for science and c o m m e r c e and bio-technology, not the humanities or social s c i e n c e s w h i c h , f r o m m y k n o w l e d g e , are b e i n g sorely d e p l e t e d . W h e r e else would y o u find an a c a d e m i c introduced on radio as " a specialist in European, Middle-Eastern and Asian Studies;" or find a scholar of C h i n e s e history pressed to teach a course on " C h i n e s e Business?" G a l l a g h e r e n d s his m a i n a n a l y s i s with a r e v i e w of state-university relations, n o t i n g a shift o v e r t i m e f r o m state use o f directive to the facilitative m e c h a n i s m s and policies, but, as elsewhere, with a stronger e m p h a s i s o n a c c o u n t a b i l i t y . In t h e c e n t r a l i s e d c o n t e x t o f A u s t r a l i a n h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , the task of a s s e s s i n g the latter will fall to a n e w body, the Australian Universities Quality A g e n c y ( A Q U A ) , w h i c h will scrutinise required institutional m i s s i o n s t a t e m e n t s required of all universities a g a i n s t reality, and c o n d u c t audits o f t e a c h i n g learning and research on a f i v e - y e a r rolling cycle. M i s s i o n s t a t e m e n t s are generally d e rigeur t h e s e d a y s in w e s t e r n universities, and t h e r e ' s n o t h i n g w r o n g with that if, as in The Canadian Journal of Higher Volume XXXII, No. 3, 2002 Education Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus 131 Australia, they lead sometimes to a careful re-crafting of curricula. But, will the A Q U A take into account what Gallagher terms " s o m e unresolved issues" (p. 47) — most notably " academic workloads rising as pressures to publish, teach, undertake new administrative tasks and raise funds all reduce time for quality thinking" ( i.e., thinking which is often the benefit derived by the lone researcher and a couple of students); and the fact that diverse demands for specific flexibly-arranged course content m o d u l e s m a y u n d e r m i n e curriculum coherence. For opinions on these and other unresolved issues one needs to turn back to the criticisms of the Senate report mentioned earlier in this review. But Gallagher has produced a valuable report for the scholar interested in comparative education and modes of educational change. Perhaps its most valuable feature, whether or nor intended, lies in the message that postsecondary sectors with decades of heavy reliance on public f u n d i n g do not shift easily into entrepreneurial mode; and some institutions may derive few benefits from trying to do so. Taylor, Peter C., Gilmer, Penny J., & Tobin, Kenneth, (Eds). (2002). Transforming Undergraduate Science Teaching: Social Constructivist Perspectives. N e w York, NY: Peter L a n g . Pages: xxiv, 4 8 1 . Price: $32.95 U S D (paper). Reviewed by Janice Dodd, The University of Manitoba T h e c u r r e n t r e f o r m m o v e m e n t in s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n w a s u n d e r taken, at least in part, in the hope of improving (American) standings in international measures of math and science proficiency, technological and c o m p u t e r literacy, and economic competitiveness. This capitalist a g e n d a to increase the scientific w o r k f o r c e has had the positive e f f e c t of increased f u n d i n g f o r research into s c i e n c e e d u c a t i o n and classroom r e f o r m . In m a n y K - 1 2 schools, c h a n g e s have been introduced that r e p l a c e m e m o r i z a t i o n of s c i e n c e f a c t s with learner-centered scientific inquiry. H o w e v e r , similar r e f o r m s h a v e not filtered The Canadian Journal of Higher Education Volume XXXII, No. 3, 2002