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ERIC Number: ED591221
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 251
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-0-4386-2118-3
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
"Are We Here to Educate People...Or Are We Here Simply to Count the Number of Bodies and Get Paid for Each One?" The Influence of Neoliberalism and Academic Capitalism on Mid-Level Community College Administrators
Perry, Edward
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, George Mason University
There is a dearth of empirical evidence on the practice of academic capitalism at community colleges. The purpose of this case study was to examine how academic capitalism and neoliberalism are manifested in the mission, strategic plan, website, and perspectives of 24 mid-level administrators at a multi-campus suburban community college. Using neoliberalism as an external environment that Clear Lake College (CLC) operates within, critical discourse and emergent thematic analyses were employed to answer the research questions. The mission, strategic plan, and website were analyzed via Fairclough's (2013) discourse dimensions of text, social practice, and discourse practice. Emergent thematic analysis of the administrator interviews yielded three categories of data relative to academic capitalism: high resistance, passive resistance and reproduction, and high reproduction. Notably, the category with the most data was the highly resistant category. Much of the resistance was aligned with Meyerson's (2003) conceptualization of psychological resistance because resistive action of the participants was limited by internal and external power. CLC engages in academic capitalism by competing in the academic marketplace for enrollment by promoting its affordability, value, and flexibility. The competition extended into intra-institutional competition between campuses, a phenomenon not in the literature. The study found that CLC engages in academic capitalism to achieve relevance and legitimacy, both of which are defined by neoliberal and capitalist metrics, such as credentialing, assessment, and most importantly, vocationalization. Suggestions for future practice and research include: incorporating citizenship education into the curriculum, pursuing problem-based teaching, faculty and administrators forming groups to bring attention to the influence of neoliberalism, performing a similar study on a college in a different geographical region, and a longitudinal study to examine if resistive and reproductive views change as administrators' careers progress. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Two Year Colleges; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A