TY - JOUR
T1 - Having, being and higher education
T2 - The marketisation of the university and the transformation of the student into consumer
AU - Molesworth, Mike
AU - Nixon, Elizabeth
AU - Scullion, Richard
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - In this paper we express concerns that the marketisation of British higher education that has accompanied its expansion has resulted in some sections becoming pedagogically limited. We draw from Fromm's humanist philosophy based on having to argue that the current higher education (HE) market discourse promotes a mode of existence, where students seek to 'have a degree' rather than 'be learners'. This connects pedagogic theory to a critique of consumer culture. We argue that a 'market-led' university responds to consumer calls by focusing on the content students want at a market rate. It may decrease intellectual complexity if this is not in demand, and increase connections with the workplace if this is desired. Once, under the guidance of the academic, the undergraduate had the potential to be transformed into a scholar, someone who thinks critically, but in our consumer society such 'transformation' is denied and 'confirmation' of the student as consumer is favoured. We further argue that there is a danger that the new HE's link to business through the expansion of vocational courses in business, marketing and related offerings, inevitably embeds expanded HE in a culture of having. This erodes other possible roles for education because a consumer society is unlikely to support a widened HE sector that may work to undermine its core ideology.
AB - In this paper we express concerns that the marketisation of British higher education that has accompanied its expansion has resulted in some sections becoming pedagogically limited. We draw from Fromm's humanist philosophy based on having to argue that the current higher education (HE) market discourse promotes a mode of existence, where students seek to 'have a degree' rather than 'be learners'. This connects pedagogic theory to a critique of consumer culture. We argue that a 'market-led' university responds to consumer calls by focusing on the content students want at a market rate. It may decrease intellectual complexity if this is not in demand, and increase connections with the workplace if this is desired. Once, under the guidance of the academic, the undergraduate had the potential to be transformed into a scholar, someone who thinks critically, but in our consumer society such 'transformation' is denied and 'confirmation' of the student as consumer is favoured. We further argue that there is a danger that the new HE's link to business through the expansion of vocational courses in business, marketing and related offerings, inevitably embeds expanded HE in a culture of having. This erodes other possible roles for education because a consumer society is unlikely to support a widened HE sector that may work to undermine its core ideology.
KW - Fromm
KW - Marketisation
KW - Student as consumer
KW - Transformation
KW - Vocational education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=68249158097&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13562510902898841
DO - 10.1080/13562510902898841
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:68249158097
SN - 1356-2517
VL - 14
SP - 277
EP - 287
JO - Teaching in Higher Education
JF - Teaching in Higher Education
IS - 3
ER -