The university–industry relationship in Brazil: trends and implications for university management

Abstract

Over the past few years, new demands have been made on universities in Brazil to review, inter alia, the roles they play in scientific and technological production systems, in teaching, and in qualifying people for professional work. In this new environment, there has been a growing recognition of the need for a greater connection of the university system with the productive sector. This article, based on a survey of the relevant literature and analyses of interviews made with educators from three well-known Brazilian teaching and research institutions, seeks to identify the characteristics of interactions between universities and the productive sector and the tendencies underlying the university–industry relationship in Brazil. The results obtained show that Brazilian universities and research centres are strongly involved in the processes of seeking partners in the productive sector. They also suggest the need for a policy to reduce conflicts that emerge from interactions between universities and firms in the productive sector.