Commercialization Of Higher Education Research Articles

Navigating the Global Landscape: Dynamics and Impacts of Internationalization in Higher Education

The internationalization of higher education stands as a multifaceted phenomenon characterized by a myriad of driving forces, mechanisms, and consequential impacts. This paper seeks to elucidate the intricate nature of this global trend, exploring its diverse dimensions and evaluating its implications for institutions, stakeholders, and the broader socio-economic landscape. Central to the discourse on internationalization is the evolution of higher education in response to globalization. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, institutions of higher learning face growing imperatives to engage in cross-border collaborations, foster cultural diversity, and prepare students for a globally interconnected workforce. The paper navigates through the underlying rationales propelling this transformation, shedding light on the economic, social, and academic motivations that drive institutions towards internationalization strategies. The mechanisms facilitating internationalization manifest through a spectrum of initiatives, including but not limited to student mobility programs, collaborative research ventures, cross-border partnerships, and curriculum internationalization. This paper delves into the efficacy of these strategies, evaluating their impact on enhancing academic quality, fostering intercultural competencies, and promoting knowledge exchange across borders. Furthermore, it examines the challenges and opportunities inherent in implementing these mechanisms, considering issues of equity, linguistic diversity, and varying academic standards across regions. A critical aspect of internationalization is its impact on stakeholders within higher education. Faculty members, administrators, and students experience a transformed academic landscape as they engage in global collaborations, navigate diverse cultural contexts, and adapt pedagogical approaches to accommodate internationalized curricula. This paper assesses the roles and experiences of these stakeholders, exploring how they contribute to and are affected by the internationalization agenda. While acknowledging the transformative potential of internationalization, this paper critically examines its limitations and ethical considerations. It addresses issues of cultural hegemony, power imbalances in global knowledge production, and the commodification of education. Moreover, it discusses the potential for unintended consequences, such as brain drain from developing countries and the commercialization of higher education. In conclusion, this paper synthesizes the complexities of internationalization in higher education, offering insights into its multifaceted nature, driving forces, operational mechanisms, and far-reaching implications. By providing a nuanced understanding of this phenomenon, it aims to inform policy discussions, guide institutional strategies, and stimulate further scholarly inquiry into the evolving landscape of higher education in a globalized world. Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 February 2024 / Published: 23 April 2024

Review of Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education

Review of Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education

SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The author examines the structural changes in the higher education system, which are intensified by optimization processes and the search for an effective network, considering world experience and national specifics. This requires consideration of the internal and external logic of transformations of higher education institutions which does not happen automatically. The author explores the dominance of external logic in these transformations, which hides the danger of subordinating pedagogical rationality to economic and political rationality and warns against the commercialization of higher education, that hides the danger of its instrumentality, which is contrary to its civilizing purpose. The research shows that higher education institutions cannot be described and understood according to the model of traditional ontologies. The author draws attention to the normative approach to institutions of higher education in the situation of an uncertain future, which has a rather narrow range of validity due to the coexistence of ambivalent processes of expanding and densifying the educational space, as well as speeding up and slowing down time. The author researches the institutions of higher education of the late modern era, which, unlike the previous stages of their development, are no longer satisfied with their own internal cultural resources, but need for their full existence to be connected to wide networks of cultural and educational institutions, the presence of which strengthens the framework of the higher education system, and the absence of which indicates their weakness. It is emphasized that the structural changes taking place in modern higher educational institutions are accompanied by criticism both from the public and from within educational institutions. The author warns in this criticism a new understanding of the autonomy of educational institutions as a responsible and fair scientific community that generates the country’s intellectual potential is formed. Institutions of higher education, which have real and virtual opportunities for selfrepresentation in different spaces and different epistemological traditions, are offered to create and implement new educational programs considering socio-cultural contexts, which the author considers as the cultural and life-creating potential of the philosophy of continuous education of the individual.

The Course of Managerialism in Turkish Higher Education: An Analysis of Quality Assurance Policies and Practices

Neoliberal policies in higher education in Turkey started after the 1980s and manifested in managerial practices since the 2000s. This trend resulted in the commercialization of higher education and the increased managerial control over academic activity. The purpose of the paper is to study managerialism on the policies of the Council of Higher Education (Yükseköğretim Kurulu, hereafter YÖK) and its practices in universities in Turkey. The implementation of quality assurance policies through YÖK is a key component in understanding managerialism in the university context. The paper is based on documentary analysis of quality assurance regulations as well as internal quality assurance reports of Middle East Technical University (Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, hereafter ODTÜ). Documentary analysis gave us the opportunity to track the historical course of quality assurance policies and practices. We find out that managerial policies and practices are on the rise during the last two decades in Turkey through the requirement of quality assurance processes by YÖK, and that the reflection of YÖK requirements in university practices is variable in different managerial dimensions.

Globalization processes in the modern city

The pace of urbanization at the beginning of the XXI century is accelerating. For large cities, the processes of globalization are becoming significant. Globalization has become one of the powerful factors that determine the formation of both visual-architectural, and cultural-behavioral and economicpolitical spheres of city life. Globalization creates and sets the general trends of behavioral patterns of society, determining their frames of unified processes at the global and regional levels. Ukrainian sociological thought lacks a reception of Western discourses of the city's globalization. The article analyzes a number of theses of modern Western scholars on globalization and urbanization. The interdependence of globalization processes, communication and urbanization is revealed: along with the acceleration of communication processes, globalization, which affects urbanization, is also accelerating. The potential of globalization phenomena in transformational-urban processes is understood: socio-economic, sociopolitical, socio-cultural. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the globalization of the world economy with the simultaneous erosion of national sovereignty of modern states, fragmentation of social and class structure, value transformation in the direction of strengthening the individualistic orientation of mass consciousness, commercialization of higher education forms a new configuration where the most successful and urbanized cities become centers of technological, economic and cultural innovation. The processes of unification and interdependence, which are clearly traced at all levels of globalization practices, especially in the life of cities, are considered. The world is unifying, which causes both positive and negative receptions in social and scientific discourses. The article focuses on the sociological interpretation of the city in the context of urbanism as a way of life (Urbanism as a Way of Life): the influence of urban lifestyle on the transformation of gender roles, the potential of universal inclusion in everyday life – a big city should be tolerant and multicultural.

Профессиональный имидж современного преподавателя высшей школы

The article analyzes the structure of the university lecturer image consisting of basic competencies, a social status and professional competencies – didactic skills, conceptual training, and professional-Self. The article considers the factors affecting the professional image of the universities’ teaching staff, nowadays, such as: the transition to a skills-oriented education, the Russian employers’ requirements for university graduates, the commercialization of higher education, and the students’ audience specifics of the represented by generation “Z”, preferring the Internet resources as the main information sources. The article highlights the professional image of the teaching staff both in the eyes of the administrative structures of universities and students. A pilot study of the teaching staff professional image perception as seen from the students’s perspective was carried out the department of industrial policy and business administration of Kazan National Research Technological University. Due to the conducted research, it became possible to establish the most important characteristics of the internal image of a university lecturer from the students’ point of view and the significance of his/her external image.

Scholarly Strains on Shaky Ground: Caribbeanness and the Campus in Marking Time and Grounds for Tenure

Campus narratives, either written by Caribbean writers or whose setting is the Caribbean, explore issues that go beyond the affairs of the institution. This paper focuses on two particular works of Campus fiction, E.A. Markham’s Marking Time (1999) and Barbara Lalla’s Grounds for Tenure (2017), which – despite being published almost two decades apart – interrogate aspects of the university on their way to raising questions about Caribbean identity in the region and its overseas diaspora. These questions revolve around the frail interpersonal relationships between academics; the rivalries that ensue out of the quest for power; the politics that undermine the duty of the university; and the psychological ruptures that result from pursuing tenureship in an academic rat race. The primary argument made in this paper is that each novel reflects ideological statements about the Caribbean and its diaspora that are both internally as much as externally produced. By incorporating the wider world into the affairs of the campus, the novels demystify the esteemed position of Caribbean institutions when faced with larger, neo-liberal systems at work. Apart from the internal missteps of the university being explored by each novel, there is also the larger exploration of the effects on the institution brought on by the commercialization of higher education. By using satire, both writers dramatise controversy in extreme cases and thereby allow serious consideration of the function of the contemporary Caribbean university. Both novels help us to understand not only educational institutions in crisis, but also different stages of crises that stem from being Caribbean.

KEBIJAKAN OTONOMI PERGURUAN TINGGI INDONESIA: ANTARA PRIVATISASI DAN KOMERSIALISASI

The basic principle of the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm is to run state administration as it moves the business sector (run government like a business or market as a solution to the ills in the public sector). This strategy needs to be implemented so that the old model of bureaucracy that is slow, rigid and bureaucratic is ready to answer the challenges of the globalization era. The privatization of higher education in the form of PTN BH and BLU is an autonomous form of higher education institutions by adopting the values of NPM. In practice, there appears to be a shift and misunderstanding of the value of privatization which is interpreted as the commercialization of higher education. This article concludes that this higher education privatization policy has a negative impact, namely the commercialization of higher education, which if allowed to continue will grow the capitalization of education. Education can only be accessed by the owners of capital, while the lower class people are increasingly marginalized. Evaluation of the higher education privatization policy must be carried out immediately by the government in order to make improvements even if it is necessary to revoke and change the privatization policy of higher education.Keywords: Education, Privatization, Commercialization

Students of Academic Capitalism: Emotional Dimensions in the Commercialization of Higher Education

This article spotlights the emotional aspect of the commercialization of university studies. Whereas the literature on current challenges of higher education highlights the students’ customer role, we reveal how neoliberal studenthood combines a consumerist worldview with the discourse of emotional experience. The narratives of Israeli students in the present article show consumerist–emotional therapeutic duality in the ways they make sense of their encounter with the university. Students evaluate how their professors meet their emotional, therapeutic, and consumer needs and perceive the knowledge they acquire as providing them with both pragmatic skills and emotional experience. We argue that this duality is significant to the emerging culture of ‘academic capitalism’ and show how the commercialized feelings and pragmatics of self-development operate as a manifestation of ‘emotional capitalism’.

Education for Sale: The Identity Construction of `University’ and `Students’ in New Age University Prospectuses

The commercialization of higher education is a global phenomenon that is catching up with Pakistani higher education institutions. Due to inculcation of marketing practices, the role allocation and social relationship between the university and the students are being defined using new parameters. Through the incorporation of Halliday’s (Introduction to functional grammar, 2nd edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1994) Systemic Functional Linguistics theory with Critical Discourse Analysis, the linguistic analysis of the introductory pages of prospectuses of Pakistani universities is undertaken to examine the assigned role and relationship of the two major parties, i.e., the ‘university’ and the ‘students.’ The results reveal that universities keep formal writing style and maintain an evident distance between the university and students. In general, the results show that marketization aspects are evident in the discourse of prospectuses through various advertisement practices; however, the university’s position as a powerful entity is ideologically strengthened through addressing students from an authoritative place.

Mathematics as a Tool of Manipulation in Modern Society. Review of the book by Cathy O’Neil «Weapons of Math Destruction. How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy»

The article focuses on the analysis of big data phenomenon that by the expansion of information technology has become a challenge for sociology and social statistics. The history of «big data» term origins is presented, the factors of appearance and development of this phenomenon are determined. It is noted that in the sociological perspective big data have not only transformed the methods of obtaining primary sociological information, but also changed the very logic of the study. The author considers that with a help of big data sociology will be able to return to its calling – the creation of a large theory of society, which, in turn, the opportunity to analyze and interpret big data depends on. Emphasis is placed on Cathy O'Neil’s work «Big data. Weapons of Math Destruction…», which concludes that big data construct new forms of inequality in a contemporary world. It is stressed that through the focus of this idea the American researcher analyzes the impact of big data on various spheres of public life: on the educational system, emphasizing the role of university rankings (which definition is not always transparent) in commercialization of higher education, its turning into big business; on the law enforcement system, in particular in a country such as the United States, noting that the mathematical models developed for the country's police have discrimination grounds for poor and «colored» citizens; on the system of employment, credit system, etc. At the same time, she writes that because of big data privacy is disappearing in people's lives, they are increasingly adapting to models of mass behavior, being under the influence of consumer and political (what is especially alarming) marketing. The author of the publication notes that Cathy O'Neil, unfortunately, gives no answer to the question of how it is possible to counteract the manipulative effects of big data. She relies heavily on ethical regulators and recommends to data specialists create models with mandatory forward linkages.

Teacher’s professional image: reimagining the future

In this research, the authors aim to determine the teachers’ professional image in the present-day context. The issues of teachers’ new role, new image and professional conditions are analyzed with regard to the reforms and commercialization of higher education as the most common trends. The paper examines the data of the survey which was conducted on the basis of written questionnaire designed to investigate the university teachers’ readiness to work in the new conditions, their readiness to innovation, the factors constraining innovation in the sphere of higher education in the context of its commercialization. The research carries value to education policymakers and university authorities. They can use these findings to reflect on regulations that would ensure favorable academic environment and increase the brand image of their staff.

Student choice of higher education institutions in a post-transitional country: evidence from Serbia

The sector of higher education in developed countries has been facing important structural changes over the last decade, which is now expanding to developing countries also. As the competitive landscape is changing, the trend of commercialisation of higher education has become more evident. Higher education institutions (H.E.I.s) have been developing their business strategies, with a clear focus on marketing activities, changes in organisational processes, and even changes in their priorities and missions, thus becoming more lucrative. Knowing student behaviour and criteria for choice decisions and recognising the main determinants of students’ choice is the basis for establishing an effective strategy of H.E.I.s. The aim of this article is to shed light on student choice criteria when deciding which institution in higher education to enrol, and to identify main moderating influences. Linear mixed model (L.M.M.) was used as the main methodological tool for analysing the main variation in the attitudes and expectations of students, based on several moderating variables, their socio-demographic and personal characteristics. The results reveal main institutional attributes that HEIs from a post-transitional country can use for the effective market positioning, and the influence of gender, academic aspirations and achievements on the assessment of various students’ choice criteria.

L’Interdisciplinarité dans une perspective comparatiste : le cas des études en civilisation britannique contemporaine

Unlike in France where a separation between established disciplines is often favoured, in the United Kingdom a more interdisciplinary approach has been more widely employed (Mass Observation after the Second World War, cultural studies, to cite only two examples). For a number of years now, research financing bodies have been actively encouraging transdisciplinary projects. This article seeks firstly to offer a comparative analysis of interdisciplinary approaches in Great Britain and France in order better to pinpoint the undeniable advantages of interdisciplinarity whilst nevertheless highlighting some of its more problematic aspects. I will then approach the question of interdisciplinarity in the field of British civilisation studies via discussion of concrete examples. In reality, interdisciplinarity has always existed and the fact that British universities often present it as an objective to be realised suggest that it has been badly understood. Being a specialist of for example John Ruskin or Charles Baudelaire necessarily implied an interdisciplinary approach as each author was both a literary writer and an art critic. Nowadays interdisciplinarity and multimedia approaches are often confused with each other because of the growing importance accorded in our society to the visual image. Interdisciplinarity has become intertwined to some extent also with the commercialisation of higher education. As our educational institutions are ranked in part according to the sums of money that they succeed in attracting for their research projects, interdisciplinarity has become a stake in a logic of survival of our institutions in so far as it is favoured in relation to specialisation. If interdisciplinarity is hence not intrinsically new, why and how can it be employed to useful effect in the human sciences, and more specifically to enrich the field of British civilisation studies? In this article we will examine this question from a number of angles with reference to my areas of specialism, and in particular the study of minoritarian and diasporic communities in a comparative perspective.

PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE THIRD MISSION IN THE TRANSFORMING ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES

The study is devoted to the implementation of the «third mission» of universities, the relevance of which is due to the expansion of traditional functions, tasks and areas of responsibility of education. At the same time, the scientific community lacks a unified approach to understanding the nature, characteristics and forms of the «third mission» and the parameters of its Russian model have not yet been determined. The authors consider this problem through the prism of global challenges facing the system of higher education in Russia, which give universities new meanings and guidelines. The authors include mass characterization, globalization, utilitarianism and commercialization of higher education, innovation, the emergence of the social mission of universities associated with the reproduction of culture, Informatization, leading to the emergence of new forms of communication and organization of the educational process. Having analyzed the main scientific approaches to the definition of the essence, characteristics and directions of the «third mission» by the method of socio-philosophical analysis, the authors determine the positive effects of this activity for universities and regional society. They include the formation of a stable social environment in which it is possible to build long-term development strategies and the University and the region, increasing the attractiveness of the University for students, getting students competencies in demand in the economy and social sphere of the region. At the same time, the region has the opportunity to involve the University in the implementation of its development strategy. The main problems that prevent the introduction of the elements of the «third mission» in the practical work of educational institutions of higher education are identified, and ways to solve them are proposed. Conclusions are drawn about the need for universities to develop strategies for their development, taking into account the global transformation processes, changing needs of society, the peculiarities of interaction with the territorial authorities, the local community and other regional stakeholders.

Higher education, unbundling, and the end of the university as we know it

Higher education, unbundling, and the end of the university as we know it

Factor identification of higher education choice to enhance brand awareness of state university

The commercialization of higher education through the concept of Perguruan Tinggi Negeri Berbadan Hukum (PTN-BH) has led the higher competition among State University and Private University. It becomes a threat and challenge faced by State University in recruiting new students. A clearer understanding of why and how students choose universities is needed to develop the brand awareness enhancement strategies of State University. This paper aims to identify the factors that influence student’s decision of university choice, without regarding the individual aspects. The Deplhi technique is used at the stage of information gathering, in which four experts from higher education were being interviewed. The combination of HEdPERF dimensions and brand awareness indicators were used to develop the variables. The pilot study done through the sample of 1st-year undergraduate students enrolled in the Top 8 State Universities in Indonesia for the validation test using SPSS 16.0. This findings result that there are six factors in choosing higher education, including academics, facilities, campus life, reputation, industry linkage and access. The test and evaluations result that from 28 items proposed, there are 23 items that can be considered as the student’s decision in their choice of State University.

Digital Fluency of Faculty Members at an ODL Institution

The commercialization of higher education compels higher education institutions to look at alternative and inclusive ways to accommodate the ever-growing diverse student population. One of the methods is the change to online teaching for distance education students. However, to successfully teach and study online, specific skills and competencies are required from both lecturers and students. The study reported on (phase 1 of a three-year project) in this article, sought to assess faculty members’ levels of digital fluency at a major open distance education and learning (ODL) institution. A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted. The results indicate that faculty members are willing to use new teaching technology, but perceive their own skills to be inadequate. The result of this study might influence tuition policy and address continuous development strategies in the ODL institution.

Book review of "Palace of ashes: China and the decline of American higher education"

Ferrara, M. S. (2015). Palace of Ashes: and the Decline of American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pages: 206. Price: 29.95 USD (hardcover).This book is a case study of education (HE) in the US, or rather two studies, as developments in the US are compared with developments in the HE sector in China. While the focus is mainly on the last 30 years the study goes back to the very beginnings of learning both in the West and in China, which helps one's understanding of the different roots and traditions of what much later became known as higher education. Although he is no education researcher, the author is well qualified to undertake such a study as he is familiar with both countries, having taught and lived for several years in (as well as South Korea), is familiar with the Chinese language, and has traveled widely in as the director of the Chinese Exchange Program at Drake University. A professor of English, he currently holds a faculty position at the State University of New York.Ferrara's main argument is that, while is massively investing in education and in universities in particular, universities in the US are losing their position as world-wide leaders in education due to major cuts of public budgets for education and, partly as a consequence, the adoption of a neoliberal agenda-i.e., of corporate values and organization. The list of Ferrara's complaints about the decline of US education is long and includes: the erosion of academic freedom through the loss of faculty governance; the disappearance of tenured professors and their replacement, on the one hand, by poorly paid and disposable lecturers, and, on the other, a growing class of overpaid administrators; and rising tuition, which makes education unaffordable for many students or puts them into debt for years after graduation. Similarly, the author bemoans the disappearance or significant reduction of the role of the liberal arts, and generally the vocationalization of education programs at the expense of the humanities and social studies.This list is neither new nor unfamiliar, since many books have been published over the last ten years or so in the US on the crisis of the university, most of them written by faculty members like Ferrara or other university insiders (e.g., Derek Bok, former Harvard president, who published Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education, in 2003). What is new and original, however, is his juxtaposition of the two largest education systems in the world, belonging to the two biggest economic powers.Describing the Chinese system, Ferrara does not idealize it but points out several major flaws that are keeping it from ascending to real academic excellence and becoming a world model. The most important of these is the lack of academic freedom of faculty members because of the tight control by the Communist Party and the state authorities. Likewise, the massive clampdown at Tiananmen Square against student protests in the spring of 1989 is mentioned as an example of a tightly controlled education system, which is at odds with the Western ideals of free and critical thinking and freedom of (academic) speech.The author's comparison of the two systems gives just one, but an important advantage over the US: the recognition that education and academic research are the most important elements of modernization and competition in a global market and that, therefore, they must be recognized and financed accordingly.Although the book's subtitle China and the Decline of American Higher Education seems to suggest that China's massive investment and build-up of education infrastructure and capacity has a direct or indirect effect on developments in US education, this is not substantiated in the book. …

Aligning the market and affective self: care and student resistance to entrepreneurial subjectivities

ABSTRACTThe paper examines the ways in which higher education students negotiate contemporary global transitions premised on improving competitiveness and opportunity in a system driven by the ideology of the market-led, knowledge-based economy (HEA. 2011. National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills; OECD 2004. Review of National Policies for Education in Ireland. Paris: OECD; 2006. Higher Education in Ireland. Paris: OECD; 2013. “Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators.” Accessed March 15, 2014. doi:10.1787/eag-2013-en). Using data from a large cohort of students (4265) in three very different types of higher education institutions (Public University, Public Institute of Technology and a private for-profit College), and through the analysis of recent policy developments, the paper shows that there is an explicit requirement on colleges to create entrepreneurial students in Irish higher education. However, the paper also demonstrates how this narrative is mediated and resisted by the students’ own educational and care imaginaries: they are expecting to be better cared for in colleges than they are currently; and their presumed future, and for some, current lives are not only defined in terms of occupational goals but in terms of care and nurturing (affective) relations. The data suggest that the affective domain of care or social reproductive relations (Federici 2012. Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction and Feminist Struggle. PM Press/Common Notions/Autonomedia) may constitute an emerging site of gendered resistance to the globalised commercialisation of higher education.