By Barney Jones (Politics Correspondent)
Edited by Ciara Brady (Politics Editor)
Higher education (HE) is in a crisis and the culprit is Neo-liberalism. The Neo-liberalisation of the financial sector led to the biggest economic crisis in my lifetime and if a substantial change isn’t made, HE will follow in its footsteps.
In the past two years, the cracks in HE have started to widen. Firstly, the treatment of students during the pandemic has been appalling. Universities prioritised profits coming from rental income and tuition fees over student welfare and safety. This can be demonstrated by fire exits being locked to quarantine students at Leeds University and announcements of online teaching being withheld until the first term of rent were paid. Alongside this, strikes have ensued across the country. In response to a 35% pension cut and poor working conditions for staff.
Universities are defined as “Communities dedicated to the learning and personal development of their members, especially students”. But now universities are no more than businesses and students are customers. The foundation for this change all originates from the Neo-liberal assumptions that underpin the ways our economy and society are governed.
The root of these problems in HE stems primarily from the notion of individual responsibility. In the UK, we saw a societal shift in the 80s with the rise of Thatcherism. This stemmed from Thatcher’s moral critique of the poor for being too reliant on the state. A new understanding of the relationship between individuals, the state, and society was formed. This paradigm shift transformed our understanding of society. Individuals were no longer part of a wider community, rather, we were atomised. As a result, our worldview was seen as deeply individual, both economically and socially. In effect, the concept of public good (goods that have positive impacts across society) was replaced with private goods (benefits that only the individual reaps).
In HE, this manifested itself as a debate: should university be seen as a public or private good? History suggests education is a driving force behind economic success; an educated and productive workforce brings greater human capital and a more prosperous society. Alongside this, an educated electorate is paramount for maintaining an effective democratic system. But with the shift in individual responsibility, HE was no longer a public good, but instead became seen as a private financial investment to improve employability and increase future earnings. Thus, the argument goes, if the individual enjoys the benefits then why should the community pay for it?
This ultimately materialised with the tuition fee cap being raised to £9,250 in 2011, to compensate for a £950 million reduction in the teaching budget over three years at the time due to further austerity cuts. Compared to previous generations when universities were free, we have now seen a total transformation in the way education is perceived.
This raise in prices is further bound to the marketization of universities. A vital principle of neo-liberalism is the belief in free markets and reduced state intervention. It maintains that the “invisible hand” within the market delivers far better efficiencies and greater choice than any alternatives. This policy of marketization ensures that universities are treated as businesses or private sector firms. They must operate within the parameters of the free market. The aim of universities is to maximise profits and minimise costs. A clear policy that furthered that was removing the student numbers cap, which meant that universities could enrol as many students as they wanted. Cameron argued this was an act of social justice but in reality, it was an attempt to expand potential customers and to provide more fierce competition between universities to attract students.
The further deregulation of the industry lead to leaving Quality assurance to the market, with the concept that market forces would ensure they deliver high standards or lose customers. One of the ways that universities are regulated is through the National student survey (NSS). Firstly, there is grade inflation where academics who award higher grades will receive more positive responses. The entire learning experience will be reduced to what grade students receive, or whether they like their teachers rather than the teacher’s competency or quality of teaching. To have student surveys being the leading regulating force is an obvious error. As Masuria (2015) points out, HE is following familiar patterns of deregulation that the banks did in the 1980s, which lead to the greatest financial crash in a generation.
Within the Neo-liberal paradigm, we live in it is far too easy to only focus on students as they are the customer. But I’m keen to avoid this mistake. The marketization of universities has forced them to lower costs, to survive in the free market. This has led to serious mistreatment of staff with universities cutting pensions and limiting wage rises. With the staff at “breaking point” due to “ beyond disgraceful” pay and conditions. This battle has culminated in a series of strikes, which reduces the efficiency of HE and lowers the quality of teaching- Something which neo-liberals claim the market deters.
A final point must be made about the commodification of degrees. The belief that HE is a private good deeply impacts student conduct. Previously, HE was based on notions of acquiring knowledge and nurturing passions but it is now largely seen as a commodity to gain an advantage in the labour market. Therefore this means that rational students realise how to do as little work as possible to achieve a degree. There is no real incentive for broad progress both intellectually and personally. This effect can be seen through empirical observation, which shows students now spent on average half as much time studying as, in the 1960s. For me, in many ways, this might be the worst impact I have discussed. The degradation of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge has been replaced with a mere consideration of labour markets and financial gain.
A crisis in Higher education is here, once again Neo-liberalism has failed. A radical overhaul of the current system is necessary, to protect students, university employees, and our future society.
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