From a rebel to consumer and now a digital user: the changing role of students in British university governance
In this talk, we will focus on the changing role of students in British higher education governance. We will review three societal periods: the welfare state, the market society and the digital economy. Within the past three decades, the student has shifted from a partner with significant involvement in governing universities, to a consumer whose influence reflects in self-interest enacted via choice and consumer rights. Our main argument is that the governing role of students is fundamentally tied to the role of the university in the society and prevailing economic order, and it is therefore changing yet again in the new phase of digital economy. We propose an approach to examine the student role in HE governance in the new digital economy as ‘governing with data’ and ‘governing of data’. In the first case, students are approached as digital users and data producers to inform university practices. In the second, they are made liable to various user agreements but have no actual influence on decision-making. We will discuss the direction of travel for the new student stakeholder as digital user in the contemporary digitalised university.
Date: 15 April 2021, 14:00 (Thursday, -1st week, Trinity 2021)
Venue: Zoom webinar, registration required
Speaker: Various Speakers
Organising department: Department of Education
Organiser: Trevor Treharne (Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE))
Host: Simon Marginson (CGHE Director & University of Oxford)
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsdO2vqDkiG9YU_R_W55Qfq_8Ndth8sBiL
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Trevor Treharne