Abstract
In England, higher education is more marketised than ever before as the difference between students and consumers is increasingly blurred, propelled by the rise in tuition fees. With students demanding more for their money, the role of university lecturers continues to change. This study explores the ways in which lecturers re-evaluate and reconstruct their roles and responsibilities in light of heightened student expectations. We draw on 30 in-depth interviews with lecturers from the social sciences, across two post-1992 universities in England, where tuition fees have tripled since 2012. We focus on lecturers’ views and experiences of student expectations, as well as the support available to students as we shift towards a more consumerist approach in higher education. We find examples of tension between academic values and consumeristic student expectations as lecturers discuss their precarious positions as an educator as well as an entertainer. We believe that the expanding role of lecturers merits an urgent review at the institutional and national level, to promote and ensure clarity of the boundaries and expectations of teaching staff.
Highlights
Higher education continues to change and be influenced by neoliberal policies
In England, the marketisation of the university system was intensified through the tripling of tuition fees in 2012, which has encouraged students to be more like consumers while universities are more akin to service providers, who adhere to the Consumer Rights Act (2015)
The rise in tuition fees has repositioned students as de facto consumers, but the role of university lecturers has changed in light of neoliberal policies and expectations
Summary
Higher education continues to change and be influenced by neoliberal policies. In England, the marketisation of the university system was intensified through the tripling of tuition fees in 2012, which has encouraged students to be more like consumers while universities are more akin to service providers, who adhere to the Consumer Rights Act (2015). With the imminent rollout of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which effectively governs tuition fee rates, universities are further incentivised to strengthen their position in TEF data metrics such as student enrolment, retention, attainment, employment rates after graduation, as well as student satisfaction (BIS 2016a). The latter is typically measured through the National Student Survey (NSS), where final-year undergraduate students can rate their degree programmes on issues such as teaching, assessment and academic support. Student experience and satisfaction are central in university strategic plans, there are concerns that these criteria, which inevitably reflect student feelings and satisfactions, can potentially undermine academic integrity and rigour (Bennett and Kane 2014; Callender, Ramsden, and Griggs 2014)
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