Transatlantic moves to the market: the United States and the European Union

Abstract

The theory of academic capitalism is used to explore US and EU marketization trajectories. Comparisons are made along the following dimensions: creation and expansion of intermediating organizations external to universities that promote closer relations between universities and markets; interstitial organizations that emerge from within universities that intersect various market oriented projects; narratives, discourses and social technologies that promote marketization and competition; expanded managerial capacity; new funding streams for research and programs close to the market; and new circuits of knowledge that move away from peer review and professional judgment as arbiters of excellence. We also consider the status of fields not closely integrated with external markets, and see fragmentation of the humanities, fine arts and (some) social sciences to be a sign of research universities marketization. We conclude that the US and EU are following very different paths to bring higher education closer to the market. The US move to the market was incremental and frequently led by a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, often with strong ties to the for-profit sector and participation by segments of universities prior to federal legislation or mandates. The European Commission is reverse engineering Anglo-American higher education models to reconstruct technologies of governance in uniquely European contexts that embed competition in nation-state initiatives. Although the discourse surrounding university marketization promises growth of high paying jobs prosperity, evidence to date suggests very uneven results for both the US and EU.

On academic capitalism

“…It often focuses on shifts in internal management organization and capabilities, the introduction of internal markets and quasi-markets, quality assurance mechanisms, differentiated career tracks and growing precarity, new intermediary bodies for managing and transferring knowledge internally and with external partnerships (Slaughter and Cantwell 2012). Conversely, I suggest here that the rise of academic capitalism can be plotted in terms of five analytically distinct and potentially overlapping stages (for the theoretical rationale and more empirical details, see Jessop 2017).…”

Varieties of academic capitalism and entrepreneurial universities

“…This is seen in changes in internal management organization and capabilities, the introduction of internal markets and quasi-markets, quality assurance mechanisms, differentiated career tracks and new intermediary bodies for managing and transferring knowledge internally and with external partnerships (Slaughter and Cantwell 2012). Reflecting this reorientation towards serving the KBE, universities have adopted the latest management fads for increasing efficiency, such as New Public Management principles, enterprise resource planning, business process re-engineering, total financial management, customer relations management (for students), data mining and the sale of data to outside commercial interests (Eaton et al 2013).…”

Institutional Change of European Higher Education: The Case of Post-War Germany

“…In the search for a more competitive educational regime, the market model unfolds strong legitimacy for the restructuring of higher education. Interestingly, the marketization of the US higher education system was incremental and led by non-governmental initiatives, while in the case of the EU, the model is engineered by governments and the supranational organizations (Slaughter and Cantwell 2011 ).…”