The neoliberal turn in Higher Education

Abstract

Recent writing on Higher Education has seen much policy and practice attributed to the advent or impact of neoliberalism. This paper examines the origins and meaning of the term, its application to Higher Education and Higher Education research, and the issues and critique that have been raised in this context. It is argued that neoliberalism is just one more in a whole series of ‘fright terms’ used in an attempt to galvanise opposition and resistance to the current directions of Higher Education policy and practice.

Re-valuing higher education: learning(s) and teaching(s) in contested spaces

“…The argument over time allocation for high quality research and outputs would resonate with all academics, and Cronshaw refers to Sutherland (2018), who contended that unless an institution is providing opportunities and encouragement for research leave, they are not serious about research. The benefits of such targeted non-contact time (i.e., teaching, marking and designing units) are wide-ranging, including personalised professional development, institutional loyalty (by feeling valued), improved and research-based teaching practices, strengthening and growing professional networks, and improved research productivity.…”

Outdoor education: the Romantic origins at the University of St Mark and St John

“…It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss neoliberalism and education other than to acknowledge that this dominates the political and economic landscape within which universities and colleges of higher education operate. For example, discussion and critique of neoliberalism and education, from the critical discourse within social theory and education that studies the ways in which the free market, competition and the student as an individual consumer are constructed, see Apple (2014), Gewirtz (2003), Giroux (2014) and Tight (2019). For critique of outdoor education practices, where teaching and learning have become commodified and the experiences become neo-experiential, see Beames and Brown (2014), Leather (2018a, b) and Loynes (1998).…”

The ‘present-tense’ experience of failure in the university: Reflections from an action research project

“…Our work extends debates on emotion and failure within academia in several directions. Our project, based in a UK university, is one of the first to link a discussion of student affectual experiences to the growing body of critical scholarship which focuses on academic stress and excessive workloads in a context of increasingly neoliberal management approaches ( Berg et al, 2016 ; Maclean, 2016 ; Mullings et al, 2016 ; Loveday, 2018 ; Tight, 2019 ). We argue that students are experiencing mounting pressure from these same neoliberal processes and that understanding their lived experiences of failure can help us understand how we might practically support them whilst pushing back at neoliberalism through our teaching and pastoral work.…”