Education
The current state of institutions of higher learning is interesting and complex. The structure of universities throughout the world brings into question the traditional purpose of universities juxtaposed to the current climate at universities. In particular there is a great emphasis placed on the state of business education at Universities. An article entitled, "Scholarship in university business schools" written by Craig et al., 1999 explores issues of the changing university structure. The purpose of this essay is to provide a critical review of the conclusions made in the article. I will then discuss whether or not I agree with some or all of the conclusions, findings and opinions of the author.
Article critique
The article takes into consideration different assertions made by academics throughout the years related to defining traditional universities and corporate universities.
I didn't find a clear definition of what a traditional university is in the article. The definition given of a corporate university is that they "fit the model of a university described by Cardinal Newman some 150 years ago in his book, The Idea of a University. . .[since]. . .[t]hey seek to increase employees' aptitude for learning by instilling within each individual employee a commitment to lifelong learning, and by providing ease of access for learning and improvement (Craig et al., 1999) ." This seems to be a fair and accurate way to describe a corporate university because it takes into consideration the idea that corporate universities are specifically designed to engage the needs of future employees. This definition does not refer to those who matriculate at universities as students but employees. This is an indication of the influence that the corporate world has on the academic setting.
The authors also explain the conflict between universities academic...
The article explains that universities are "the only institution in our public life that is self-consciously skeptical, that questions, doubts or challenges the prevailing consensus on what is right, true, or good." To be able to do this without fear or favour, the university treasury needs to be independent, so that word and mind are unshackled to a corporate ideology." The authors further assert that the mixture of corporate strategies with academic enquiry is problematic. The main problem with this
scenario is that there is a conflict between what scholars believe should be the focus of education and what corporate strategies want to focus on as it pertains to their bottom line which is
profitability. This conflict is a difficult battle and in many cases the corporate interests win.
I believe that the conclusions made about how universities become corporate and takeover the
identity of a university is accurate. In many ways it is difficult for universities to break away from the corporate interests because of the relationship between corporations and universities. Many corporations have sponsorship relationships with universities. The sponsorship dollars aid the universities in offering students greater resources and assist with school expansion. As a result of this symbiotic relationship the
integrity of education can become skewed. Universities, therefore, have to make a concerted effort to maintain the integrity of the education experience.
The authors assert that business professors can be greatly influenced by a world view that is not conducive to
teaching business education. The article points out that much of the current
worldview revolves around the survival of the fittest. In the context of this worldview there is the presence of unconstrained capitalism which encourages a "cult of success." This cult of
success becomes part of the
belief system of the
professor and as such this worldview is taught to students. This, the authors claim, is detrimental to business students because…
