Elite UK Business Schools: from cathedrals of learning to cathedrals of earning?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Changes in government policy and funding structures, alongside a rapidly evolving (international) market for education have made education provision a key revenue driver for UK higher education institutions. In this setting, the Russell Group of Universities (RGU), a self-selected association of elite, research-intensive universities and Business Schools (BSs) appear to be at the forefront of commercialising their educational activities at an institutional and a discipline level to enhance revenues. Using interview evidence from established academics, and drawing on the framework of academic capitalism and notions of morality in higher education, respectively, this study explores the play-out of the commercialisation of educational activities at a selection of RGU BSs and its implications for education provision. Results suggest major shifts in university cultures and systems – aligning them to capitalise on the market for (international) education. Activities include the creation of a suite of demand- and efficiency-led programmes in response to market intelligence, establishment of financial targets to nurture growth, efforts to seek out new markets and influencing admissions practices. The ensuing changes have disrupted extensively the educational spaces at the micro level in which meaningful learning for business students, as nurtured by values of academic care and responsibility, can take place. Operating at a distance from their students and in restrictive ways in response to large student numbers, faculty are limited in the extent to which they can enrich these students’ experiences and enable them to reach their full potential.