Axis of advantage: elites in higher education

Author(s):  
Tanya Fitzgerald

The intention in this chapter is to offer a critical commentary on ways in which the educational marketplace works to the advantage of elite universities. It is these institutions that use their histories and traditions, image and reputation, to further preserve and reproduce their privilege, position and power. This is labelled as the axis of advantage. Elite institutions are well recognised and accrue esteem based on those who work or have worked there, those who study there or who have studied there, and by the philanthropic bequests received. This chapter argues that this roll call of individuals, alumni, benefactors and networks linked further disconnects elite institutions with the ordinary and the everyday.

Sociology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1290-1306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Telling

This article examines a series of well-documented changes in post-war English higher education: the massification of, and increased differentiation within, the system, as well as changing relationships between credentials, skills and incomes. It offers an account of the new liberal arts degrees rapidly emerging at both elite and non-elite universities in England, explaining these as a response to, and negotiation of, an ever-changing higher-education landscape. Through an analysis of the promotional websites of the 17 English liberal arts degrees offered in the 2016–2017 academic year, the article links their emergence to broader trends, while insisting that there are crucial differences in the ways in which elite and non-elite universities use new degrees to negotiate the higher education landscape.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-115
Author(s):  
Jonathan Harvey

This is a conceptual article which seeks to consider the use of contemporary social theory to help understand the experience of disabled students in higher education. The use of social theoretical insights has been criticised by many as demonstrating a lack of engagement with the everyday experiences of disabled people. Work which strives to embed theoretical insights into the study of disability has also been criticised for lacking engagement with the ‘reality’ of impairment. In this article I intend to address some of these criticisms by suggesting some ways in which the use of contemporary social theory may provide an explanatory tool which disentangles confusion regarding the journey undertaken by the disabled student. I will discuss how the writings of several social theorists may be helpful in making sense of disabled student journeys. I will begin by discussing why the work of Jacques Derrida can be useful in this regard. These writings will be considered alongside a debate which draws on the writings of Michel Foucault on the use of power in contemporary higher education institutions. I will critically discuss the theoretical insights of Deleuze and Guattari and their offerings on the notion of ‘becoming’. I will then critically interrogate the work of Rosi Braidotti and apply these to a re-imagining of the disabled student journey. The writings of these important theorists have been used before to explore the experiences of disabled people. However, this article is unique in that it proposes that these writings can be used to demystify the experiences of disabled students in higher education. I suggest some ways the work of Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari and Braidotti enable a greater understanding of my personal student journey. I suggest that they could be used to make sense of a far wider range of student journeys. I conclude the article by offering a model which utilises some important aspects of these theoretical insights.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine Octavia Putri Balaw

Introduction: It’s safe to say that Pancasila, as the moral compass of the people and the nation, is held as a foundation—in which, the stronger a foundation is, the sturdier the country ought to be. For the last couple years, the millennial generation has taken the reins concerning the future life of the people and the nation of Indonesia. With the effects of ceaseless tech development, an effort to properly implement Pancasila values in their everyday lives is needed, so that the negative repercussions of globalization would not heavily impact the behavioral shift of the millennials. Methods: This article is written using the method of literature review from publications regarding the corresponding topic, along with determined criteria. Results: The millennial generation has shown the withering of Pancasila values through their behavior in recent times. Seeing that the millennials currently play a major part in the success of the people and the land, it is compulsory that the cultivation of Pancasila is given in schools and higher education, to then help the society build the values in prospect for a more altruistic and stronger character. Conclusion: The efforts of implementing Pancasila values in everyday life should be practiced more frequently. Even if it starts with just one principle, gradual progress will show unwittingly, as the five principles all correspond to each other.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153-159
Author(s):  
Elena Denisova-Schmidt

AbstractThe lack of academic integrity, fraud, and other forms of unethical behaviour are problems that higher education faces in both developing and developed countries, at mass and elite universities, and public and private institutions. While academic misconduct is not new, massification, internationalization, privatization, digitalization, and commercialization have placed ethics higher on the agenda for many universities (Denisova-Schmidt and De Wit 2017; Denisova-Schmidt 2018, 2019; Bretag 2020).


2019 ◽  
pp. 102831531988846
Author(s):  
Marie Clarke ◽  
Linda Hui Yang

This article, emerging from a wider study on internationalization in the Republic of Ireland, explores internationalization through the everyday lived experience of faculty and its impact on their professional contexts. It highlights issues that faculty members face in a national context, where internationalization is viewed as an economic goal rather than an academic goal. This aspect, which has been under-researched in higher education literature, addresses the complexities and contradictions that internationalization can create for faculty. A social realist approach using Archer’s morphogenetic framework was employed to facilitate an exploration of the variegated responses that internationalization produced. The performative response to internationalization was captured, which revealed different agential responses: from an acceptance of the instrumentalist discourse to feeling demoralized by the lack of recognition for professional commitment, the impact of non-engagement by colleagues and engagement with the process to advance other career objectives.


2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Leathwood

This article seeks to apply Adam Swift’s (2003) critique of private and selective schooling to higher education in the UK. The higher education sector in this country is highly differentiated, with high status, research-led elite institutions at the top of the university hierarchy, and newer universities, with far lower levels of funding and prestige, at the bottom. The extent of this differentiation is illustrated by an analysis of six universities at different ends of this spectrum. It also becomes apparent that the student profiles of these institutions are very different, with privately educated, white, middle class students particularly over-represented in the elite universities, and working-class, minority ethnic, and to some extent, women students concentrated in those institutions with far lower levels of funding and prestige. Considerable benefits accrue to those who have attended the elite institutions, and it is argued that the hierarchy of universities both reflects and perpetuates social inequalities, with the middle-classes retaining their privileges and the elite continuing to reproduce itself. The discourse of meritocracy that is used to justify this institutional differentiation is also discussed, and the paper concludes with a call for a more socially just and equitable future for the higher education sector.


AAUP Bulletin ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 287
Author(s):  
William R. Bowden ◽  
George Williams

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