Ivancheva, MP, Swartz, R, Morris, NP orcid.org/0000-0003-4448-9381 et al. (4 more authors) (2020) Conflicting logics of online higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41 (5). pp. 608-625. ISSN 0142-5692
Abstract
The advent of massive open online courses and online degrees offered via digital platforms has occurred in a climate of austerity. Public universities worldwide face challenges to expand their educational reach, while competing in international rankings, raising fees and generating third-stream income. Online forms of unbundled provision offering smaller flexible low-cost curricular units have promised to disrupt this system. Yet do these forms challenge existing hierarchies in higher education and the market logic that puts pressure on universities and public institutions at large in the neoliberal era? Based on fieldwork in South Africa, this article explores the perceptions of senior managers of public universities and of online programme management companies. Analysing their considerations around unbundled provision, we discuss two conflicting logics of higher education that actors in structurally different positions and in historically divergent institutions use to justify their involvement in public–private partnerships: the logic of capital and the logic of social relevance.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Higher education, marketisation, unbundling, digital technology, inequality |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ES/P002102/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2020 14:37 |
Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2020 15:18 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/01425692.2020.1784707 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:162187 |