Time: 1:00 - 2:00pm Venue: FB4.04/4.08, Mile End Campus, E1 4NS
Prof. Risa LieberwitzCornell, USA
Privatizing and Corporatizing the University: A U.S. and UK Comparison
The higher education systems in the US and UK are structured differently – most notably in the dominance of public universities in the UK and private universities in the US. Yet, universities in both countries have traditionally defined their mission as “public”, whether the institutions were private or public. Global privatization trends, however, have altered this public mission through restructuring of university form and functions based on a private corporate model. What is striking in both countries is the pervasiveness of the corporate model in all aspects of the university, including the commodification of teaching and the commercialization of academic research. This paper analyzes and compares privatizing and corporatizing trends in US and UK universities through a complex web of governmental and institutional policies and practices related to employment structures, academic research assessment, and university-industry relations. This comparison lays the foundation to analyze the effects of corporatization on academic freedom and the public mission of higher education in both countries.