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Knowledge for whose society? Knowledge production, higher education, and federal policy in Canada

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Abstract

With the dissemination of its Innovation Strategy in 2002, the Canadian government further solidified its commitment to a knowledge-based national competitiveness strategy. Through the unfolding of a multi-million dollar Workplace Skills Strategy (WSS) agency, and the launch of two research agencies, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Canadian Council for Learning (CCL), the federal government of Canada has expressed a clear interest in shaping knowledge generation and has established conditions for particular forms of knowledge production. In this paper we analyze the knowledge discourse of these intermediary agencies, and consider implications for higher education, particularly in terms of research support and program development. Using methods of critical discourse analysis, we examined the Calls for Proposals and general program descriptions of the CFI, WSS, and CCL, and found that programmatic discourses are conflicting and ambiguous in terms of research foci, partnerships, and roles of individuals and institutions.

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Notes

  1. These are the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

  2. Nine skill areas were declared “Essential” in all work: document use, numeracy, “working with people” and “thinking” skills. All occupations, not just entry-level or low-skill work, were in process of being “profiled” to determine the precise mix of Essential Skills required. Detailed assessment technologies are being deployed to determine individuals’ skill needs (for training purposes). Employers are using these technologies for recruitment, promotion and termination processes.

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  1. Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Amy Scott Metcalfe & Tara Fenwick

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  1. Amy Scott Metcalfe
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  2. Tara Fenwick
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Correspondence to Amy Scott Metcalfe.

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Metcalfe, A.S., Fenwick, T. Knowledge for whose society? Knowledge production, higher education, and federal policy in Canada. High Educ 57, 209–225 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9142-4

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