Consumer Culture: Assessing The Future of

Higher Education

Consumer Culture: Assessing The Future of

Higher Education

Meryl HoltThe University as a Local and Global Citizen

Professors Tom Wasow and Todd Davies

Meryl HoltThe University as a Local and Global Citizen

Professors Tom Wasow and Todd Davies

Newman, Frank, Lara Couturier, and Jamie Scurry. The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Newman, Frank, Lara Couturier, and Jamie Scurry. The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Market-Oriented Higher Education

Market-Oriented Higher Education

“There are many forces transforming higher education, but the most powerful and certainly the most striking is the shift of policy makers toward a market-oriented system of higher education and away from a regulated system” (31).

What are the main issues higher education has failed to effectively address?

“There are many forces transforming higher education, but the most powerful and certainly the most striking is the shift of policy makers toward a market-oriented system of higher education and away from a regulated system” (31).

What are the main issues higher education has failed to effectively address?

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AREAS OF WEAKNESS

cost inflation

institutional efficiency and productivity

learning quality

elementary/secondary educational reform

the changing needs of students entering the workforce (32)

AREAS OF WEAKNESS

cost inflation

institutional efficiency and productivity

learning quality

elementary/secondary educational reform

the changing needs of students entering the workforce (32)

What characterizes the market-oriented University? Increased competition among Universities Greater number of merit scholarships (12) Decreased regulation Students as consumers University admissions as a marketing ploy Desire for new sources of revenue The globalization of higher education (9-25)

What characterizes the market-oriented University? Increased competition among Universities Greater number of merit scholarships (12) Decreased regulation Students as consumers University admissions as a marketing ploy Desire for new sources of revenue The globalization of higher education (9-25)

Dangers of Market-Orientation

Dangers of Market-Orientation

The Problem with Meritocracy…

“A paradox lies at the heart of this new American meritocracy….merit, it turns out, is at least partly class-based.” -Scott and Leonhardt

The Problem with Meritocracy…

“A paradox lies at the heart of this new American meritocracy….merit, it turns out, is at least partly class-based.” -Scott and Leonhardt

Dangers of Market-Orientation

Dangers of Market-Orientation

Is market-orientation steering higher education in the wrong direction?

May perpetuate existing problems

Biases in information dispersal

Improper assumptions about academic preparation

How can we improve the system in a way that holds the University accountable for the welfare of its students?

Is market-orientation steering higher education in the wrong direction?

May perpetuate existing problems

Biases in information dispersal

Improper assumptions about academic preparation

How can we improve the system in a way that holds the University accountable for the welfare of its students?

Dangers of Market-Orientation

Dangers of Market-Orientation

The Consumer Complex

Grade Inflation

Obstacles to genuine intellectual growth

Pope: Applicants have no time “to dive into anything that's not part of a carefully crafted plan of academic and extracurricular achievements designed to land them in a highly ranked college.”

The Consumer Complex

Grade Inflation

Obstacles to genuine intellectual growth

Pope: Applicants have no time “to dive into anything that's not part of a carefully crafted plan of academic and extracurricular achievements designed to land them in a highly ranked college.”

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Taking ResponsibilityTaking Responsibility 1998 study: 9 out 10 students reported that their college

degrees helped them get jobs but didn’t provide the skills they needed to succeed in the workplace (55)

Social mobility requires a college education

Between 1973 and 1999, the median family income for a graduate of high school decreased by

13.1%, but increased by 9.9% for an individual with four years of college (Mortenson 2002, 57)

1998 study: 9 out 10 students reported that their college degrees helped them get jobs but didn’t provide the skills they needed to succeed in the workplace (55)

Social mobility requires a college education

Between 1973 and 1999, the median family income for a graduate of high school decreased by

13.1%, but increased by 9.9% for an individual with four years of college (Mortenson 2002, 57)

A Step Beyond Access…Attainment

A Step Beyond Access…Attainment

“Opportunity is not simply opening the door; real opportunity is putting in place programs ensuring that hard work will lead to a degree” (161).

26% of whites ages 25 and over have graduated from college, 16.5% African Americans and 10.6% Hispanics (Harvey 2002, 157)

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 29% of black students and 31% of Hispanic students drop out in their first year of college (159)

“Opportunity is not simply opening the door; real opportunity is putting in place programs ensuring that hard work will lead to a degree” (161).

26% of whites ages 25 and over have graduated from college, 16.5% African Americans and 10.6% Hispanics (Harvey 2002, 157)

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 29% of black students and 31% of Hispanic students drop out in their first year of college (159)

Where There’s Room to ImproveWhere There’s Room to Improve As “stewards of public trust and investment”, the university

is “obligated to spend public funds in a way that most effectively responds to public needs”

cost efficiency

affordable education (60)

support for elementary and secondary education programs

As “stewards of public trust and investment”, the university

is “obligated to spend public funds in a way that most effectively responds to public needs”

cost efficiency

affordable education (60)

support for elementary and secondary education programs

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In the End…In the End…Higher education today is “dependent on a governance system that resists change, and is focused on competition with the principal goal of prestige. It is a…system that fiercely defends a rhetoric of excellence and public purpose while the reality slips” (66).

Market-orientation--the capitalist model--of higher education is distracting from that which is most important:

Making quality education available to all of America’s youth

Higher education today is “dependent on a governance system that resists change, and is focused on competition with the principal goal of prestige. It is a…system that fiercely defends a rhetoric of excellence and public purpose while the reality slips” (66).

Market-orientation--the capitalist model--of higher education is distracting from that which is most important:

Making quality education available to all of America’s youth

Articles CitedArticles Cited “Shadowy Lines that Still Divide” by Janny Scott and

David Leonhardt

“Juggling Academic Pressures” by Denise Clark Pope

“Does Meritocracy Work?” by Ross Douthat

“Shadowy Lines that Still Divide” by Janny Scott and David Leonhardt

“Juggling Academic Pressures” by Denise Clark Pope

“Does Meritocracy Work?” by Ross Douthat