Business ethics 101: The student is not a customer

Student as co-producer in a marketised higher education system: a case study of students’ experience of participation in curriculum design

“…Enhancing customer satisfaction has become a management tool, reinforced by rebranding the student as a client of the university. This may explain why university managers have shown least resistance to the notion of student as consumer (Little & Williams, 2010), despite widespread criticism from academics (Acevedo, 2011) and students (Streeting & Wise, 2009). Managerialism has encouraged a shift from an expert-led model of curriculum development (where academics decide what is best) to a consumer-oriented model (Molesworth et al, 2009).…”

Assessment innovation and student experience: a new assessment challenge and call for a multi-perspective approach to assessment research

“…Demands to satisfy the diverse needs of a wide range of stakeholders in higher education have also played an important role (Race 1999). In particular, attempts to respond to the reported and perhaps contradictory role change for students into customers (Acevedo 2011;Carlson and Fleisher 2002) and partners in higher education (Boud et al 2010;Buckley 2012) have driven innovation to increase student participation in assessment (Taras 2002). However, tutors must continue to ensure that innovations produce reliable assessment outcomes to fulfil more traditional 'feedout' functions (Knight 2002, 276) such as certifying attainment for entry to and progression through professional bodies, evidencing achievement of political agendas and justification of public expenditure (Maclellan 2004).…”

Excellent prospects for beautiful minds: marketing international education

“…This study provided further proof that Finnish HEIs' use similar marketing techniques for free and tuition fee programmes (Pyykkö et al, 2012. While a previous study has shown that Finnish higher education students have contradictory views on whether they want to be seen as customers (Vuori, 2013), the findings of this study indicated that the main approach for communicating with potential applicants of international business and technology programmes was addressing prospective students as customers (Acevedo, 2011;Naidoo and Jamieson, 2005;Molesworth et al, 2009;Ramachandran, 2010;Svensson and Wood, 2007;Vuori, 2013;Williams, 2013) and used similar rhetoric emphasising what "we" can offer "you" to make "your" individual goals come true.…”

“…Much criticism has also been raised towards marketing in its effort to emphasise degrees and gained skills as end results instead of concentrating on advancing learning and research. Moreover, marketing is blamed for obscuring the role of the academy as a place for intellectual pursuit in its tendency to emphasise the "student experience" (Acevedo, 2011;Arambewela, 2010;Askehave, 2007;Gibbs, 2008;Grebennikov and Shah, 2013;Molesworth et al, 2009;Naidoo and Jamieson, 2005;Newman and Jahdi, 2009;Ramachandran, 2010;Stachowski, 2011;Svensson and Wood, 2007;Symes, 1996;Williams, 2013). Arambewela (2010) argues that student consumerism is the dominant discourse of higher education globalisation.…”