Campus Closures and the Devaluing of Emplaced Higher Education: Widening Participation in Neoliberal Times

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  • Author(s): Leaney, Sarah (ORCID Leaney, Sarah (ORCID 0000-0002-2364-3469); Mwale, Shadreck (ORCID Mwale, Shadreck (ORCID 0000-0002-5773-8458)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research. Nov 2021 82(5):977-992.
  • Publication Date:
    2021
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Research
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      16
    • Education Level:
      Higher Education
      Postsecondary Education
    • Subject Terms:
      Universities; School Closing; Student Experience; Equal Education; Neoliberalism; Multicampus Colleges; Self Concept; Social Differences; Student School Relationship; Social Mobility
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s10734-021-00696-6
    • ISSN:
      0018-1560
    • Abstract:
      Widening participation (WP) in Higher Education (HE) is often positioned as key to resolving social inequality; it underpins arguments that increasing levels of education lead to reduced levels of poverty. Located within the tension of duty and need, WP is positioned as both the responsibility of the University and a financial imperative. This paper considers the student experience of this tension, specifically the contradictions between discourses of equality and diversity and neoliberal conceptualisations of HE as market. Drawing upon qualitative research conducted during the closure of a WP satellite campus, the paper explores the consequences of the withdrawal of HE provision for 'local' students. Utilising focus group methodologies to develop an approach for 'thinking with' seven WP students, the paper explores the material, social and affective contexts within which students experience university in their 'hometown'. Foregrounding participants' critical understanding of their 'place' within a marketised HE sector, we consider the formation of student identity as a site of struggles for value. We argue, the closure of satellite campuses must be understood within the context of deepening social-spatial inequalities. Developing a critique of individualised constructions of 'social mobility', we outline an alternative imaginary of HE as an intergenerational community resource.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2021
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1315408