ERIC Number: EJ1466323
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0141-1926
EISSN: EISSN-1469-3518
Available Date: 2024-12-22
Predatory Competition, Student Expectations, Unclear Purpose: University Leaders' Perceptions of the 'Neoliberal Future' of Higher Education in Brazil
Marcello Romani-Dias1,2; João Lins Pereira Filho3; Gabriela Fracasso Moraes2; Aline dos Santos Barbosa1; Fernando Eduardo Kerschbaumer2; Danielle Denes dos Santos2
British Educational Research Journal, v51 n2 p949-968 2025
This study examines the role of predatory competition, student expectations and unclear institutional purposes in shaping the main management challenges present in Brazilian universities. The study explores the experiences, perceptions and recommendations of 42 rectors and academic directors working in Brazilian universities regarding the future of higher education in the country. In-depth interviews with these university leaders generated 482 pages of transcripts, analysed inductively and based on the content analysis technique. The data analysis indicates that managers, especially those who work in more recent private universities and do not belong to the large educational groups that dominate higher education in Brazil, will possibly face the greatest management challenges. The study results indicate the complex academic environment of Brazilian higher education institutions, dominated by harmful neoliberal principles, and characterised by low collaboration between higher education institutions, price wars, difficulty in differentiation, neglect of student expectations, conflicting interests, questioned legitimacy and institutional instability. The study offers recommendations for Brazilian universities to orient themselves towards the 'neoliberal future', especially by adopting a strategy to expand their educational services based on constant dialogue with the market, developing modern service management that focuses on people and improves the experience of its students, and defining a clear institutional purpose aligned with the demands of society and more deeply with the principles of sustainability and social responsibility.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Neoliberalism, College Faculty, Deans, College Environment, Educational Policy, Educational Principles, Commercialization, Student Educational Objectives, Educational Objectives, Teacher Attitudes, School Community Relationship, School Business Relationship, Educational Cooperation, Conflict of Interest, Educational Change, Administrator Attitudes
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Brazil
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1FGV Institute for Educational Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 2Department of Management and Environmental Administration, Positivo University, Curitiba, Brazil; 3FGV Sao Paulo School of Business Administration, Sao Paulo, Brazil