Abstract
We have shown in the preceding chapter how a concerted ‘capture’ of the most important domains of education and educational thinking by neo-liberal economic perspectives since the 1950s has impelled eventually a momentous (global) shift towards narrowing the essence of education down to merely ‘learning’ of a bundle of productive and/or marketable skills through educational investment, with an overriding motive of reaping measurable pecuniary ‘gains’—both private and societal.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
A recent study shows that the ‘League of European Research Universities’ or LERU are contributing almost €100 billion (US$117 billion) to the European economy and 1.3 million jobs’ (Myklebust and O’Malley 2017). Note that this contribution of universities is not reckoned with in terms of its role in the dissemination and generation of ‘knowledge’, but in terms of its role as any other industry in the economy in generating revenues or ‘value-added’ after the deduction of costs, and also in creation of employment.
- 2.
In American high schools the vocational and academic education separated at the turn of the twentieth century (see Bodilly et al. 1993: v).
- 3.
For a useful overview of the arguments both in favour and against privatisation of higher education, see Tilak (2004).
References
Adelman, N.E. 1989. The Case for Integrating Academic and Vocational Education. Washington, DC: National Assessment of Vocational Education.
Barnett, Ronald. 2003. Beyond All Reason: Living with Ideology in the University. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and the Open University Press.
Bodilly, S., K. Ramsey, C. Stasz, and R. Eden. 1993. Integrating Academic and Vocational Education: Lessons from Eight Early Innovators. Office of Vocational and Adult Education, US Department of Education (Accessed Online).
Bothwell, E. 2017. Universities ‘Generates £95 Billion for UK Economy’. Times Higher Education, 16 October.
Chakrabarty, R. 2016. Problems Plaguing Medical Education: Why India Suffers a Severe Lack of Quality Doctors. India Today in Education, 6 July.
Chatterjee, T.K. 2018. Learning as an Enterprise. The Statesman 156, 4 July 2018.
Field, A.J. 1976. Educational Reform and Manufacturing Development in Mid-Nineteenth Century Massachusetts. The Journal of Economic History 36 (1): 263–266.
Flexner, A. 1910. Medical Education in the United States and Canada. Bulletin Number Four, The Carnegie Foundation, New York.
Grubb, W.N. 2004. The Anglo-American Approach to Vocationalism: The Economic Roles of Education in England. Research Paper 52, Centre on Skills, Knowledge, and Organisational Performance, Oxford and Warwick Universities.
Hanson, C. 2004. Review of Barnett, R., Beyond All Reason. Education Review, March Issue.
Hyslop-Margison, E.J., and A.M. Sears. 2006. Neo-Liberalism, Globalization and Human Capital Learning: Reclaiming Education for Democratic Citizenship. Dordrecht: Springer.
Innes, J.T., P.B. Jacobson, and R.T. Pellegrain. 1965. The Economic Returns to Education: A Survey of Findings. Eugene: University of Oregon.
Jenvey, N. 2014. The Contribution of Universities to the Economy. University World News (315) 11 April. Accessed from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story on 28 December 2017.
Johnson, G.E. 1984. Subsidies for Higher Education. Journal of Labour Economics 2 (3): 303–318.
Leslie, Larry L., and Paul T. Brinkman. 1988. The Economic Value of Higher Education. New York: American Council on Education/Macmillan Publishing Company.
Myklebust, J.P., and B. O’Malley. 2017. LERU Universities Contribute €100 Billion to Economy. University World News (00486) 12 December. Accessed from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20171208101802401 on 12 December 2017.
Park, T. 2011. Academic Capitalism and Its Impact on the American Professoriate. The Journal of the Professoriate 6 (1): 84–99.
Psacharopoulos, G. 1977. The Perverse Effects of Public Subsidisation of Education, or, How Equitable is Free Education? Comparative Education Review 22 (1): 69–90.
Ram, Rati. 1982. Public Subsidization of Schooling and Inequality of Educational Access. Comparative Education Review 26 (1) (February): 36–47.
Russell, Bertrand. 1959. The Great Intrusion: Democracy in Higher Education. Arkansas University Alumnus.
Scott, P. 2010. The Expansion of Higher Education Is a Key Element in Our Democracy. The Guardian (UK), 15 March.
Sewell, W. 1971. Inequality of Opportunity for Higher Education. American Sociological Review 36 (5): 793–809.
Slaughter, Sheila, and Larry L. Leslie. 1997. Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies, and the Entrepreneurial University. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Teixeira, P.N. 2000. A Portrait of the Economics of Education, 1960–1997. History of Political Economy 32 (suppl. 1): 257–288.
The Business Today. 2014. Reasons for Low Employability of Engineering Graduates, 10 April.
The Harvard Crimson. 2015. Higher Education for All. The Harvard Crimson, 27 January. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/1/27/staff-obama-higher-education/.
The Hindu. 2013. Employability Skills Low Among B.Tech. Grads, 17 May.
Tilak, J.B.G. 2004. Higher Education Between the State and the Market. Paper Presented at UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge, 1–3 December.
Tilak, J.B.G. 2005. Higher Education: A Public Good or A Commodity for Trade? Keynote Address at the 2nd Nobel Laureates Meeting in Barcelona, 2 December. Barcelona: Global University Network for Innovation.
Tilak, J.B.G. 2014. Private Higher Education in India. Economic and Political Weekly 4 (October): 32–38.
UNESCO. 1998. World Statistical Outlook on Higher Education: 1980–1995. Working Document, World Conference on Higher Education 1998. Paris.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Maharatna, A. (2019). Global Crisis in Higher Education: Is Merit Being Trampled by Marketing and Money?. In: The Indian Metamorphosis. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0797-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0797-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0796-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0797-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)