« [L’]utilisateur du bataillon de jeunes Québécois » : le patronat québécois et les institutions universitaires, 1980-2012

Abstract

This article examines the academic ideals of two of Quebec's largest employer organizations, the Conseil du patronat du Québec and the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. By studying the interventions of these organizations from 1980 to 2012, we highlight their conception of the social function of the university and their main requests in terms of training and research. First, we show that business leaders conceive academic institutions as technology incubators necessary to support "international competition" in a free trade environment. Second, we argue that it is this conception of the university and a fundamentally neoliberal ideology that pushes employers to demand the institutionalization of university-industry relations and the increase in tuition fees, for which they've been lobbying since 1986.