What is higher education for? Do we really need more sociologists and philosophers? Why do cutting-edge research? Are we getting our money’s worth?
These questions, which we hear quite frequently in public discourse, are sorely lacking in ambition. It is obvious that universities accept their responsibility in responding to the major challenges we face: climate change, labor shortage, aging population, etc. But the role of universities is much more than to train the highly qualified personnel that Quebec needs. And it is even more than providing answers to the immediate problems of Quebec and the rest of the world.
In front of my house there is a large white pine, which must be about twenty meters high. It never occurred to me to wonder what it is for. Of course, my tall pine provides shade, it adds value to my land, it stores some carbon. But its greatest value is intrinsic.
Universities are like my tree. Their greatest value is intrinsic. Their mission in the service of the common good is part of the long term, rather than an overly hasty reaction to the challenges of the moment. Throughout the eight centuries of their existence, universities have always played three fundamental roles.
The first of these roles is to preserve knowledge and the achievements of scientific knowledge. In a world where information circulates in a closed circuit and where democratic institutions are almost everywhere undermined by lies and disinformation, universities are one of the rare spaces where we can still invoke critical thinking and open debate.
This is why it is necessary to preserve as much as possible their autonomy and their capacity to nourish the quest for knowledge. We must let academics themselves define the contours of academic freedom, trust in the extraordinary power of self-correction of which the university institution is capable, beyond temporary threats. No need for a legislative text like Bill 32, currently before the National Assembly, to achieve this. It is enough for the academic world to reaffirm and above all to implement in the eyes of all, and on a daily basis, the conditions of free discussion and free scientific research.
The second fundamental role of universities is the transmission of knowledge, the training of young people. Beyond preparation for the labor market, which some prioritize in the short term, the university opens the door to the world of ideas, nourishes critical thinking and lays the foundations for informed and enlightened citizenship. When universities invest in the quality of the student experience and excellence in teaching, the university career becomes an opportunity to realize the full potential of each person who embarks on this wonderful adventure: studying.
This is why the question of widening access to higher education must rise to the rank of national priority. We must salute the significant efforts of the Government of Quebec to increase the resources intended for financial assistance for studies. But we must also, and urgently, work upstream on obstacles other than the cost of education, so that all children in Quebec can achieve their potential and their hopes.
Finally, the third role of universities is to create new knowledge. There are many examples of academic discoveries fueled by curiosity alone, with no immediate objective of scientific application or commercialization. These discoveries lead years later to beneficial results.
I sincerely believe that we must resist the temptation to put all our eggs in one basket of applied research and continue to support fundamental research. First, because the sheer will to understand the world around us, without an ulterior objective, is the cognitive trait that distinguishes us from the rest of the biosphere. But also for strategic reasons: if we do not participate in this open research, we will not control the technologies that will one day result from it. We will then become a “technology colony,” warns Jacques Courtois, who presented my university last week with the largest donation ever made to Canada in the basic sciences.
Preserve knowledge, transmit it, sometimes even create it. It’s very simple and, at the same time, it’s grandiose. That should be enough to make us very proud of our great universities. We must cherish them rather than instrumentalize them, otherwise we will deprive ourselves of the best they can offer for tomorrow.