The higher education sector in the UK and globally is changing rapidly, with increasing marketisation and the precipitous growth of private services and providers. This seminar draws on a range of research studies to explore the implications for higher education policy and practice in the UK and beyond.

Professor Margaret Thornton (Australian National University)
Markets in Higher Education: Teaching versus Research
Drawing on research conducted for her recent book, Privatising the Public University: The Case of Law (Routledge, 2012), Prof. Thornton argues that the neoliberal turn in higher education, in particular the increasing marketization of the sector and the commodification of knowledge, has had differential impacts on teaching and research. In this paper she explores the reasons why this might be so, with particular reference to the UK and Australia.

Professor Robin Middlehurst, (Kingston University)
The growth of private and for-profit higher education providers in the UK: implications for policy and practice
Drawing on a series of policy research studies undertaken in the UK between 2009 and 2014, this paper will explore the growth of non-profit and for-profit providers in England, in comparison with other countries. Prof. Middlehurst will set out the policy context in which this growth has taken place and discuss the myths, realities and implications for policy and practice in UK higher education more broadly.

Lunch will be available at 1pm and the event will start at 1.40. After each paper there will be time for questions and discussion, followed by an opportunity to discuss issues raised in both papers over tea or coffee.

For further details about the Higher Education Policy Network, please contact the network convenor, Prof. Carole Leathwood, Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University, [email protected].

Further information: SHRE Events

Note: Unless otherwise stated SRHE events are free to members, there is a charge of £45 for non-members.