The social functions of the university in the context of the changing state/market relations

As state/market relations get changed with the advent of globalization, where does that leave universities, traditionally an important part of the public sector? This paper considers the position of the university, as it finds itself located in an unexpected global landscape, where liberal democracy, neoliberal conceptions of society and government and market-oriented ideals of global economy prevail.

The paper first considers whether the introduction of market forces in higher education represents an invasion. New aspects of the transformations of higher education today are then discussed before the issues of globalisation, competition and public scrutiny are analysed. Finally the paper considers the role of the state in higher education reforms.

The author argues that:

• the most visible transformations in higher education today occur in those countries which promote globalization most actively and make full use of its opportunities and in those countries which are most strongly affected by its theories and practices
• the share of enrollment in private higher education differs considerably between countries and regions: in the majority of Western European countries over ninety five percent of students attend public institutions; in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, almost eighty percent of higher education is supplied by the private sector
• market forces are invading higher education worldwide: while the form and pace of change is different in different parts of the world, that change is happening everywhere
• the WTO is considering a number of proposals ensuring that the free trade of higher education will be subject to the complex rules and legal arrangements of the WTO protocols and free of most restrictions, opening up local and national higher education to international "markets"
• a fundamental issue is whether higher education is still viewed as a public good or is already seen as a private commodity, and whether higher education can compete with other publicly-funded services today
• under the current global ideological climate and powerful globalization pressures public higher education institutions in Central and Eastern Europe have a small chance to avoid the process of privatization
• the university without its state and nation orientation is being forced by external circumstances to look for a new place for itself in culture, if it does not find such a place, it will become an educational corporation tasked with training specialists fast, cheaply, and efficiently