In the conventional liberal view, the university is a battleground between two mutually exclusive qualities: government intervention; and academic freedom and institutional autonomy. While tensions between government and the academic domain are inherent in the modern university, the conventional view is seriously misleading. Far from being naturally “outside” government, the modern university is a product of government and serves the purposes of government, though it also has other constituencies and purposes. Conventional academic freedom is a state of regulated autonomy in which the freedom of academics in teaching and research is necessary to the discharge of their normal functions, but these functions are exercised within boundaries controlled by government and management. The installation of systems of market competition in higher education extends the terrain of this regulated autonomy, while also highlighting the problem of standardisation in the global environment. It is possible to achieve more independent forms of academic freedom though these are difficult to sustain in the present environment. Independence tends to be enhanced by solidaristic (non‐competitive) relations inside the university, and by the practice of vigorous social criticism.
The essential mission of the [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] STEM: country comparisons project is to discover what other countries are doing to develop participation and performance in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and the take-up of STEM in the labour market and research system, and to draw out possible lessons and ideas for STEM policy and strategy in Australia. To this end, 23 specific reports were commissioned and completed by consultants from around the world. Most nations are closely focused on advancing STEM and some have evolved dynamic, potent and productive strategies. In world terms Australia is positioned not far below the top group but lacks the national urgency found in the United States, East Asia and much of Western Europe, and runs the risk of being left behind.
Vietnam is a country of over 90 million people, the third largest nation in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and the Philippines, and with more people than any European country except Russia. Though parts of the country are very fertile, it includes challenging...
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Nine years ago in 2002 there were no global university rankings. There were national rankings in some countries. The only really important one was US News and World Report (USNWR, 2008) which helped to form the national higher education system-market in the United States. Few of the other major national systems saw themselves as a quasi-economic market, and few other systems used public rankings of institutions. Nine years ago there were no significant global research rankings, and measures of publications and citations were left to a few specialists in research policy and management.
International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.
‘It is important that the next generation fully appreciates what it means to be an Australian and that they understand our history and our cultural diversity. The report of the Civics Expert Group released in December 1994 has been given scant attention by the Labor Government. The Coalition is committed to ensuring that students leave school with an understanding of, and pride in, what it means to be an Australian citizen; with a knowledge of our system of government and democracy with the knowledge and skills to enable them to participate as active citizens in the community.’Liberal and National Parties, policy on Schools and TAFE, March 1996 election, p. 9.
Human capital theory assumes that education determines the marginal productivity of labour and this determines earnings. Since the 1960s, it has dominated the economics, and policy and public understanding, of relations between education and work. It has become widely assumed that intellectual formation constitutes a mode of economic capital, higher education is preparation for work, and primarily education (not social background) determines graduate outcomes. However, human capital theory fails the test of realism, due to weaknesses of method: use of a single theoretical lens and closed system modelling, inappropriate application of mathematical tools, and multi-variate analysis of interdependent variables. Human capital theory imposes a single linear pathway on the complex passage between heterogeneous education and work. It cannot explain how education augments productivity, or why salaries have become more unequal, or the role of status. These limitations are discussed with reference to research on social stratification, work, earnings and education.
This chapter provides an overview of the Australian education system: enrolments, funding and institutions in schools, technical and further education (TAFE), and higher education. It also looks at the changing relationship between education and the labour markets, the politics of education, and the different and conflicting roles performed by education – custodial, academic, democratic, economic and selective. It is ironic that although education is no longer an automatic passport to a job, the connection between education and the economy dominates government education policies.
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1. Introduction 2. Roots of the enterprise university (1): from policy to governance 3. Roots of enterprise university (2): from academy to global business 4. Territories and strategies: executive power in the enterprise university 5. College and corporation: institutional power in the enterprise university 6. Economics of invention: research power in the enterprise university 7. Many paths, one purpose: diversity in the enterprise university 8. Conclusion.
The influence of economic policy on education has long been felt at the system organising level – in the number of students, the size of the education budget, the number and types of institutions. In recent years government economic policies have begun to shape more closely the ‘internal’ processes of teaching, learning, research and management. Later chapters explore policies on educational outcomes, resource management, educational markets, and reform in higher education and competency-based training. This chapter reviews the content of those economic policies. ‘Economic rationalism’ has installed a free market economic agenda at the heart of public education policy, with deep consequences for both the academic and the democratic project.
