Oh look, the U-turn government has still found a way to hurt working class universities
and if you wonder what this means, here it is:
the cap was there to ensure the 24 higher ranked #RussellGroup Unis dont hoover all students and teach them with precarious part time staff, leaving the other (roughly) 80 scrambling, particularly in COVID19 times
the cap was there to ensure the 24 higher ranked #RussellGroup Unis dont hoover all students and teach them with precarious part time staff, leaving the other (roughly) 80 scrambling, particularly in COVID19 times
you may say, this is great, we should all be educated in Russell Group, though in my experience lower tier unis like mine focus far more on teaching, on NSS scores, because RussellGroup also hoovers up most research income.
it's unfair 'competition' - or cornered market, or 'market failure' - in which lower ranked Universities cannot win because at the end of the day, networking with posh kids and a posh uni on your CV may mean more than what you actually learnt for your employability
the government's cap on recruitment corrects this failure, and ensures (some) viability for lower ranked universities in a system that is stacked against them.
removal of the cap goes beyond the universe of downgraded prospective students:
if Bristol Uni (Russell Group) wants to, it can recruit all say UWE Bristol applicants in Education & solve the obvious problem of who's gonna teach them by hiring temporary lecturers (fired by UWE)
if Bristol Uni (Russell Group) wants to, it can recruit all say UWE Bristol applicants in Education & solve the obvious problem of who's gonna teach them by hiring temporary lecturers (fired by UWE)
so what has been a long-time attack on higher education (think UCU strikes on pensions and precarity) just got some impetus from this Naomi Klein kind of disaster capitalism, only with disaster government-made
do Russell Group want this headache of over-recruiting?
most have little choice, since tuition fees + on-campus fees (accommodation, food etc) are the biggest source of revenue in an age of the financialised university
ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/04/23/158…
most have little choice, since tuition fees + on-campus fees (accommodation, food etc) are the biggest source of revenue in an age of the financialised university
ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/04/23/158…
Education in the Age of Finance, as @FTAlphaville puts it (read that astonishing series), means
1. Glossy buildings where international students can really have fantastic 'student experience
2. Financed via capital markets
3. And from wages of increasingly precarious staff
1. Glossy buildings where international students can really have fantastic 'student experience
2. Financed via capital markets
3. And from wages of increasingly precarious staff
this financialised business model in higher education (w overpaid managers in the mix) is unsustainable when foreign demand (China) collapses.
Then, we and our pretty buildings fight for smaller pie of local students. Without recruitment cap, lower ranked unis cant play the game
Then, we and our pretty buildings fight for smaller pie of local students. Without recruitment cap, lower ranked unis cant play the game
so please don't buy the 'incompetent government' narrative - this is an extraordinarily competent government at advancing its strategic ideological goals, including marketisation of higher education and overall assault on critical academia.
today bites harder for Economics - there are few #RussellGroup unis that tolerate heterodox economics (let alone encourage it) - whereas lower ranked unis are more hospitable. Double whammy for us non-mainstream.
and @FT confirms my fears may be well founded:
1. Russell Group demands subsidies to accommodate higher intake as some students switch from lower-tier unis
2. Lower-tier unis potentially 'loosing large number of students'
ft.com/content/624077…
1. Russell Group demands subsidies to accommodate higher intake as some students switch from lower-tier unis
2. Lower-tier unis potentially 'loosing large number of students'
ft.com/content/624077…
one devil, so many details
Very good
