Dr Jooste · 1 August 2016
Since neoliberalism came to dominate economic and development thinking in the 1980s, the mainstream thinking and planning in the higher education sector around the globe has been driven by neoliberalism. Higher education is often treated as a commodity that can be traded on the marketplace and sold to those who have money to pay for it.
Throughout the world, many higher education institutions see profits, market share and rankings as the main drivers of their management focus. Knowledge production and research have been heavily commodified and commercialised and are seen as capital and products instead of public goods. For many institutions, commercial gain is the key motivation for internationalisation, leading institutions into global expansion driven by profits. This is often at the expense of contextual relevance and quality.
The 2016 NMMU Family Week Colloquium explored the following questions:
- Is neoliberalism influencing international collaboration in higher education? Is this influence good or bad?
- If commercial gain is the key motivation and/or driver of internationalisation, how does this influence the role and effectiveness of higher education?
- In the age of neoliberal dominance, can we expect higher education institutions to think collectively about solving pressing global challenges?
- How can we bring the local and global together when many cannot afford to be part of the process?
- Are there alternatives to commodification and commercialisation of higher education?
- Can we find a way to balance the need to make profit while ensuring that higher education remains a public good?