Fatores que configuram a interação universidade-empresa no sistema nacional de inovação: uma comparação entre as universidades brasileiras públicas e privadas

Abstract

Innovation is recognized in the literature as a fundamental element for development. Universities, as one of the main producers and diffusers of scientific and technological knowledge, are influential in the generation of innovations. For the Brazilian reality, the literature points to a low volume of interactions between universities and companies, given the immaturity of the National Innovation System (SNI). In addition, there is the understanding that public versus private universities are the institutions with the greatest presence in the scenario of interactions, by the historical trajectory of the longer term in the Brazilian educational system, as well as by the fact that they enjoy more resources, Both human and financial, for the generation of knowledge. In this sense, it is relevant to understand the interactions established and what type of university (according to the legal nature) performs them. In order to do so, this study aims to analyze the factors that characterize the interactions established between public and private universities and the productive sector (companies) - EU - in Brazil, discussing the particularities of these interactions for public and private universities. This is an exploratory study that used secondary data from the census of the Directory of Research Groups (CNPq) of the CNPq and the census of higher education of INEP for the year 2014. For the analysis of the data, we used factorial analysis To identify the factors that shape the interactions between universities (public and private) and companies. The results indicated that public universities have a larger register of research groups, and the main areas of these groups are health science, human sciences, and exact and earth sciences. On the other hand, the research groups belonging to private universities are in absolute numbers, and fundamentally in the areas of applied social sciences, engineering and biological sciences. This result requires explanatory elements different from those foreseen in the literature so that it is possible to understand the different areas that gain prominence in the two groups of universities in Brazil. Another important result is the fact that, although there is a strong presence of public universities with a greater number of research groups and interactive groups registers, the calculation of the degree of interaction pointed to the fact that, in terms of interaction, Those of the two groups of universities are similar. The importance of this result lies in highlighting the role of private universities in the EU interactive activity in the Brazilian SNI, indicating the need to consider this actor in future studies in the area, as well as public and private policies aimed at stimulating interactions and generation Of innovations. Regarding the factors that make up EU interaction, public universities have achieved better results in three of the four factors identified: 'institutional structure', 'institutional human resources structure' and 'institutional expenditure'. The fourth factor, 'interaction and revenue', stood out in the private universities, showing superiority in the income obtained and similarities in the interaction established with companies, when compared with public universities. Considering this, the public university has its role reinforced in the interactions by having the largest stock of human and institutional resources, which is fundamental for the generation of knowledge, and the private university presents itself as an important actor in the interactions and, thus, In the possibility of generating knowledge and innovations.