Alternatives to Neo-liberal Dictates in Higher Education: The Fight against Student Poverty

Abstract

University students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in Australia face increasing levels of poverty, escalating course fees and associated costs, and are required to meet a myriad of conditions in order to obtain financial support, all within the Australian Government rhetoric of rights and responsibilities. This is despite a new program of Government scholarships and the existence of widespread university-level support schemes aimed at reducing student poverty. The proportion of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who are enrolled at university has decreased, which raises concerns about a growing socioeconomic polarisation of Australian society. Current research in this area neglects the local-global link; unless student poverty is contextualised within the broader paradigm of neo-liberal globalisation, any action taken to combat it will be limited. By situating the micro-level experiences of student poverty within the current macro-level global political context, counter-movements can be better understood and enhanced, and alternatives can be developed. Through the example of a large-scale scholarships program for low-income students at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, this paper will highlight the link between the current global political climate and the micro-level experiences of student poverty. Alternatives to the current paradigm will be explored and developed through a holistic lens which brings into view the experiential as well as the global.