Care Work and the Crisis of the Neoliberal University

Abstract

Higher education, particularly in the U.S., is in crisis. The crisis stems from a contradiction that requires educators and universities to prioritize two conflicting missives: care and efficiency. This work draws on social theory and empirical social science research, and the case-study experiences of a first-generation, nontraditional college student turned pandemic-era professor to interrogate the political, economic, and historical roots of the contradiction. At the micro-level lies the experience of teaching and learning through difficult times, produced ultimately as byproducts of modernity. At the macro-level, the neoliberal political-economic regime structures higher education's responses to said crises, serving to deepen rather than address the contradiction. At the meso-level, public schools have long faced contradictory missives and public pressures to accomplish what could not be accomplished elsewhere. Drawing on these elements, paths forward are sketched for higher education, supplementing theory with public opinion research on higher education.