academic capitalism

1
academic capitalism distance education
reconciling markets scholarly values

• Kelly ONeill
• Athabasca University

2
Intent

• Discuss the tensions between the
  commodification of distance learning and higher
  education/ institutional values

3
Academentia

• Most people dont know how different the academy
  is, and workplace orientations seldom cover
  academic culture
• Who knew? Efficiency and productivity arent in
  the foundation
• Leontiades, 2007

4

• Purpose of DE was for learner accessibility but
  has morphed into economics
• Distance learning is seen as an add on and a
  problem solver
• Economies of scale to develop curriculum and
  deliver to underserved/marginalized populations
  without due consideration of that populations
  needs

5
Key tensions

• Purpose of higher education
• individual benefits/ economic tool
• or
• civic engagement/democratic training
  ground/societal contribution
• How academia should be conceived of and operated
• corporatist vs scholarly

6
Why have these tensions evolved?

• Budget cuts have forced entrepreneurial
  activities
• Early opportunists saw DE as a cash grab
• Increased adoption of market philosophy applied
  to academia
• Proliferation of for-profits
• Widespread adoption of in-house education
• Seeming inability of higher ed to respond to
  market training needs
• Timeliness of program development frustrated
  industry
• Again, widespread adoption of in-house education

7

• Global commodification of higher ed teaching and
  learning
• Public good is no longer the prevailing notion
• we have an industry of national competitiveness
  and a lucrative service up for international sale
• Naidoo and Jamieson (2005)

8
Characteristics of New Public Management

• Large scale corporatization
• Managerialist processes that use
• Mission statements
• Business plans
• Performance agreements
• Those at the top have a lot of power
• Change management more important than incremental
  change
• Least resources w/ max benefit
• Ends must justify means
• Performance measures indicators and contracts
  that describe obligations
• Tolofari, 2005

9
Education as an economic tool

• UC Davis found in 2000 that chocolate is good for
  your heart
• study financed by Mars (maker of MMs, Milky Way
  and Snickers)
• Greenbriar School in Georgia Coke Education Day
  chemical composition, speeches from
  administrators and a coke pep rally
• 2 students suspended for Pepsi t-shirts

10
Contributions to greater good

• Paul Berg, Nobel Prize winning biologist laid the
  foundation for splicing DNA molecules for
  cloning. Set off a multi-billion industry but
  couldnt get venture capital. Colleague at Merck
  was told to shut down
• Washburn (2005)

11
Non-economic purposes

• Community values, and environment for personal
  development, and a setting for critical thinking
  and the debate of ideas
• Rather than teaching students to be citizens
  concerned with the well-being of others and the
  development of radically democratic communities,
  our educational system trains students to be
  consumers
• Saltman, Collateral Damage, p 167

12
Knowledge economy (a compromise)

• Ironically, the best preparation for the work
  of the future may be to cultivate knowledge of
  the broadest possible kind to make learning a way
  of life that in the first place is pleasurable
  and then rigourosly critical... The learner who
  really understands the economy knows how fragile
  is the concept of career.
• Arnowitz, 2000, The Knowledge Factory, p. 164

13
Operational contradictions

• Market incentives be competitive vs collegiality
  and cooperation(Stillwell 2003)
• Budget prioritization, performance management,
  output measures focus on known outcomes vs
  novelty (Marginson, 2007)
• What is the risk that adopting platform
  technologies courseware WalMarts? (Talab, 2007)

14
Assess values contradictions

• What is promoted in your academic culture?
• What is frowned upon?
• Who holds the power?
• What compromises work for you?
• Which ones dont?