AbstractA survey of people in government, industry and academia in Mexico on the future of university-industry relations revealed some deep-seated biases against such co-operation. These seem to stem from a long-standing attitude that technology is the means of livelihood of ‘rude mechanics’ and that university graduates are above nuts-and-bolts technology. Industry, academia and government seem to be questioning themselves on whether they are still partners to modernization. This can have a paralyzing effect on public policies relating to technological modernization.