102 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus ness of many governments to change the tradition of charging low fees or no fees to students attending public universities and colleges. In the context of government restraint, Geiger suggests that this unwillingness may deprive universities of much needed financial resources which could be used for discretionary purposes. The possibility of increasing tuition fees in order to raise revenue is clearly relevant in the context of Canadian higher education. So are many of the other policy issues raised in the sixty information-packed pages of this conference book. However, like Geiger and the other conference delegates, Canadian educators should view moves towards privatization with caution. At their worst, government policies which foster privatization are simply a mechanism for replacing public funds by private funds. At their best, they may stimulate the augmentation or adaption of university activities through a more flexible financial environment. REFERENCES Roger L. Geiger, Private Sectors in Higher Education: Structure, Function and Change in Eight Countries (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1986). Watson, Cecily (ed.) Readings in Canadian Higher Education. Higher Education Group, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1988. Reviewed by Nancy M. Sheehan, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Readings in Canadian Higher Education is a publication of the Higher Education Group at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. It is a selection of papers from the 1986 Conference sponsored by the Higher Education Group which focussed on the legitimacy of government intervention in the affairs of higher education. According to the Editor the volume's purpose is to put into the public arena more material on higher education - material which is "... buried in the archives of commissions of inquiry, in unpublished masters and doctoral theses and graduate student term papers..." (Preface). Although there is no introduction and no attempt by the Editor to tie the chapters together or to provide any direction for the reader, concentration on the legitimacy of government intervention into the affairs of higher education does provide a focus. Let me indicate what this volume is not; first, it is not readings in Canadian higher education. A much more accurate title would be "Readings About Ontario Universities." Only one chapter - the first one, "Legitimation or Transformation: the Role of the State in University Education," by Howard Woodhouse, does not focus on Ontario and only one addresses other than university education. "The Multi-Year Plan in Ontario Colleges: From Planning to Review to Renewal," by Peter Stokes is devoted to the reasons for the demise of the Ministry's multi-year plan for the CAATs in Ontario. Second, it is not a research volume. It does not consist of articles based on either ongoing or completed research of the kind found in most refereed journals. For the 103 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus most part the chapters are descriptive pleas for special status for Francophones, women, unions and small universities. Third, the volume is not definitive, nor are the individual articles definitive on the particular subject matter that is addressed. For example, the second chapter, "Tuition Increases: Their Impact on Accessibility and Equity," by Noemi Selinger Stokes, gives examples of student aid and tuition under President Reagan in the U.S., tuition increases and cuts in bursaries in British Columbia and a proposal for tuition increases in Ontario. She suggests that after 30 years of low tuition policy in Ontario, the system has grown greatly but participation rates of children of white and blue collar workers have grown little. Five tables are included: however, these are not comparative and they say nothing about participation by groups. Although the ten chapters address different issues within education, there is some overlap. For example, there are two chapters which focus on concerns that affect both Lakehead and Laurentian. Chapter III, "The Politics of Government Intervention in Higher Education: A Case for the North," by Geoffrey R. Weller and Robert G. Rosehart, is an argument for special status for Laurentian and Lakehead. It is a plea for government intervention to achieve regional objectives, that is, for government help to convert these two universities in the North to universities both in and for the North. The next chapter, "Higher Education Policy Implications for Franco-Ontarians: Towards a Basis and Direction for Further Development of University Programs," by Gerhart André Bindseil, also advocates greater government intervention in higher education in the Ontario North to mitigate the educational disadvantages francophones northerners suffer. This article focusses on Laurentian University and uses Lakehead, an anglophone university, as a comparison. Two of the chapters talk about small institutions, indicate that these have a specific role in Ontario and opine that small universities can be better and rival, for their size, the research development of older and larger institutions. The Weller-Rosehart chapter does this, as does Chapter V, "Ontario's Trent University: Rational and Different - An Illustrative Case of Selective Government Intervention," by Bertrand L. Hanson, Brenda M. Kelvie and Donald F. Theall. This chapter looks at three views of the differentiation grant in the context of the propriety of intervention by government into the affairs of universities. Although the conclusion leaves it to the reader to judge the positive or negative effects of the differentiation grant, the authors do indicate that Trent is now in a positive position and has a special role within Ontario. There are two chapters which argue for faculty unionization: "Faculty Unionization and its Impact on Government Policy Toward Universities: The Case of OISE," by Mary Alice Julius Guttman, and "Government Control of University Faculty Salaries," by Trish McAdie; both are pleas for unionization. The Guttman chapter is a report on OISE's campaign to remain autonomous. Although it is a very interesting documentation of the process which OISE adopted to influence the legislature in Ontario to change its mind, it presents only one side. The McAdie 104 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus chapter stresses the need for a catch-up adjustment in salaries at Ontario universities. In the article the author attempts to show that those universities which have unionized have a slightly better salary ratio than those which have not. Although the author's intent is clear, the argument that non-unionized faculties are further behind in salaries, benefits and working conditions is not convincing. There are also two chapters on pay/employment equity: Chapter VIII, "Employment Legislation: Implications for Academic Standards and the Management of Canadian Universities," by Angela Hildyard and Peter E. Angelini, and Chapter IX, "Necessity, Parent of Intervention? Government's Role in Issues Concerning the Status of Women Academics in Ontario Universities," by Helen J. Breslauer. Both of these articles look at government intervention to ensure equity for women in universities in Ontario. The Hildyard/Angelini chapter talks as well about mandatory retirement, and asks the question "How adaptable can our universities be in the face of legislation which constrains staffing decisions?" (p. 154). The authors conclude that there is no indication that present standards of university excellence will be significantly altered although clearly some traditional practices must change. They suggest that universities must reconsider the manner in which they recruit and train all levels of middle management; the current system by which department heads and associate deans are elected for terms needs to be rethought; and people who take on these positions should be given professional development. Breslauer, in her article, states that between 1982-83 and 1985-86 the percent of women at all ranks in Ontario universities and of newly hired women had not changed significantly despite attempts by the government to increase the number of women in these positions. She says that "it is difficult, if not impossible, to argue that the collégial decision-making process is free of systemic discrimination." (p. 190). Breslauer believes that an analysis needs to be made of specific interventions, i.e., the Employment Equity Incentive Fund and the Ontario Government's Faculty Renewal Fund. She concludes that the high profile given to women's issues in Ontario has, at least, raised people's consciousness and forced them to examine their assumptions. What is interesting about this selection of articles is that almost all of them advocate government intervention, with the exception of the Guttman article which looks at the union's role in preventing intervention into OISE's management, and the first article in the collection, that by Howard Woodhouse. All of the others see the need for government intervention if the Ontario higher education system is to be all things to all people in Ontario. The central thesis in Woodhouse's article is that relative institutional autonomy is required if the central functions of the university, the creation and transmission of knowledge, are to be successful. He suggests that as public or state funding declines universities look to the private sector, to corporations, for support. Corporations pursue university ties as a means of directing the research and manpower training facilities closer to the needs of the marketplace; that is, "self interest predicated in the profit-motive state" (p. 2) is able to transform the 105 Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus universities quite smoothly into corporate training grounds. He argues that both government and corporate intervention into the affairs of the university are a danger and that institutional autonomy must remain if the university is to perform its central function. Despite Woodhouse's plea for institutional autonomy the moral of the story, if Readings in Canadian Higher Education is a judge, is that government intervention is not only a necessity, it is also welcomed. This issue is a critical one for universities as they enter the 90s and needs serious, cogent, intellectual debate based on strong, empirical research.