Life for the student at a neoliberal university: a case study investigating the influence of neoliberalism on the experiences of higher education students

This study aims to develop an understanding of how students experience university life during neoliberal times. Literature which explains the influence of neoliberalism on higher education (HE) is reviewed. In addition, the social theory of Ritzer (2015) is employed to help understand developments in the HE sector. Whilst there is an abundant body of existing literature examining the impact of neoliberalism on HE, the experiences of students remain relatively unexplored. The research is philosophically underpinned by a constructionist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. A case study research design is employed with semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis used to collect and analyse the data respectively. Throughout the project, the researcher attempts to occupy a reflexive position which emphasises the need for critical self-evaluation. Despite some participants rejecting the assertion that they were consumers of HE, the study finds that students are increasingly adopting a consumerist and instrumental orientation towards their studies and conceive of university as a means through which to enhance their career prospects. The research also finds that students are becoming increasingly performative and view their relationships with academic staff as transactional rather than pedagogical. This is to say that the experiences of students are increasingly neoliberal in character.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Elliot, Mark

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lalli, Gurpinder

• neoliberalism
• consumerism
• market competition
• metrics
• performativity
• higher education
• students
• McDonaldization

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence

• https://wlv.dspace7.openrepository.com/bitstreams/e91f4050-bcdd-4aa8-9708-0491fc7df7ea/download