Submission to the Review of Higher Education Financing and Policy
Mr. S.B. Aungles, Honorary Fellow,
Science and Technology Studies,
University of Wollongong
The Higher Education Review Committee guidelines, identify the role of higher education in Australia over the next 10-20 years as a key theme to be investigated. Whilst it may be possible to make short-term predictions, a level of uncertainty is to be expected, since there is no agreement about the cause or direction of such trends.
In this submission I focus upon four processes of change in higher education in Australia; commercialisation, managerialism, credentialism and technology. I address these issues in the context of particular theories of social change; post-industrial, information, risk and global society.
I begin with an examination of the common views about the causes of change and note that both government intervention and external events in Australia and elsewhere are commonly identified as principal factors in the change process. Following this, I note that certain large-scale theories of both societal and global change, appear to be readily accepted without question by senior management in universities. This often uncritical acceptance has major consequences in terms of key university activities. From large-scale theory I move down to an examination of commercialisation processes in universities in the context of business activity generally. I then focus upon several of the controversies associated with the development of a managerial ethos in universities. In particular, I discuss the problematic outcomes, of several ill-considered decisions. The next area of change I address is the use of technology in education. Here I question several of the common claims which justify the introduction of technology not only in education but elsewhere. Finally, I return to large-scale issues and place university decision-making processes in the context of the risk society. Decisions which were once made in relatively stable circumstances are now being made in conditions of increasing uncertainty and high risk.
My main purpose for making the submission is to draw attention to some very important issues which are frequently neglected in discussions about the future of higher education in Australia.
When writers attempt to discuss the cause or causes of changes to higher education establishments in Australia two basic approaches are apparent, First, all or most changes will be seen to have occurred as the direct result of governmental intervention in the higher education system. For example, it is common to view the Dawkins era as the beginning of government-influenced changes to the structure and activities of universities. More recently, Vanstone is seen as principal figure promoting further change. In the second approach, whilst governmental-inspired change is accepted, both the government and the universities are viewed as reacting to wider external change not only within Australian society but also globally. An interesting aspect of the second approach is that writers have a tendency to resort to energy metaphors such as 'pressures' or 'forces' as can be seen in expressions such as, 'pressures from the environment', 'forces at work in the wider society' or 'global pressures'. In economics and business the 'hidden hand' dynamic appears as 'market forces'. A major effect of the use of energy metaphors is that it can produce a taken-for-granted way of viewing change. For example, change in educational organisations will be viewed as being a necessary outcome of external events. Under such circumstances senior managers in universities will frequently use the 'forces' metaphor without specifying clearly what these forces are. Furthermore, the choice of reaction to the unidentified forces will be presented as inevitable. A prime example of the frequent use of energy metaphors is 'The Hoare Committee Report', (1995).
In the bulk of the writings which focus upon external events there is little or no awareness that the issues addressed may be controversial. For example, there will generally be no recognition that different individuals or groups may have quite different perspectives when in the process of apprehending external conditions or events. In the submission, I wish to bring to attention several important aspects of the differences, in order to show how several current changes and projected changes in universities are based upon highly debatable notions about economic, technological and organisational change not only within society but also globally. I begin at the macro level and examine several higher education issues which can be commonly located in theories of both societal and global change.
A major influence on writers concerned with the future directions of society has been Daniel Bell who popularised the idea of the Post-Industrial, Knowledge-based society in 1973. Bell's basic thesis was that major changes were occurring in Western societies as the direct result of the shift from industrial to post-industrial activity. From that year onwards a voluminous literature developed around the notion that a major societal transformation was taking place. More recently the Bell thesis has been modified by other writers so as to take account of major developments in information and communication technologies, thus the transformed society is now referred to as, "The Information Society". Although the transformation thesis has been subjected to a good deal of criticism ( Kumar 1978, Forester 1985, 1987; and Lyon, 1988) , the majority of writers on change in higher education appear to accept the questionable view that a major transformation of society is taking place. These writers are of the view that the basis of the economy is changing from industry to information and this process in turn transforms the major economic and social institutions in society (which includes educational institutions). At a wider level, ideas about transformation become incorporated into notions about the 'globalisation' process.
The term 'globalism', according to Featherstone (1990) refers to the world-wide exchange and flow of goods, people, information, knowledge and images. Central to the globalisation thesis now being expounded by many writers is the notion that the exchange and flow processes are eroding national boundaries to such an extent that national controls are becoming difficult, if not impossible. Two further claims are that nations are becoming increasingly interdependent and that a "global culture" is in the making. Writers who advise caution about accepting the globalisation thesis point to growing nationalism in some countries, excessive religious zeal encompassing several national boundaries, inter-ethnic conflicts around the world and the growing instability of organisations and economy. Furthermore, at any one time, approximately two-hundred and fifty armed conflicts are going on in various parts of the world.
Globalism as an issue has entered the universities. Academics write books on the topic and students take courses on it. Given this, it might be expected that the bulk of the literature on globalism and education gives recognition to the differences noted above. This is rarely the case. Numerous articles and sections of books frequently advocate "global education" without qualification. For example, in the book 'Global Networks' (1993), the writer Riel provides an extremely restricted definition of global education:
The goal of global education is to promote multicultural sensitivity and understanding of the interdependent systems that operate in today's world. Global education helps students to see that social problems, cultural issues or economic relationships aren't constrained by national boundaries.
Whilst the term 'globalism' is frequently invoked, writers are mainly operating with a more limited view, that is, they are referring to the growth in international education activities. These activities take three main forms. First, electronically transmitted distance education. Second, the establishment of Australian campuses overseas. Third, the recruitment of overseas students for study in Australia. The two most notable aspect of the writings on international education is first, the hyperbole and second the naive acceptance by senior Australian management in higher education of the hyperbole. I have yet to see any one Australian vice-chancellor even vaguely allude to the hyperbole.
For higher education analysts, I believe the two most important issues to note are: First, the writers who favour the major transformation thesis claim that if our key institutions do not adapt, we will face both economic and social decline. Second, the history of people involved in prediction and prophecy is a history of changed minds. However, whilst the prophets are in the process of changing their minds and are about to recant, gullible decision-makers have already instigated social and economic planning based upon questionable formulations and predictions. Higher educational institutions are by no means immune from this gullibility. I will provide examples below and show how the ill-considered acceptance of the information/communication revolution thesis leads to impetuous investment in information technology which can result in very heavy financial loss.
Finally, for the purposes of the higher education debate, the relevance and significance of understanding the background to the idea of an information society is that once the idea is embraced, educational institutions can become shaped accordingly.
Over recent years, Australian universities have increasingly ventured into the international education 'market'. The principal motive for their overseas ventures is money. If government funding is regarded as insufficient, it seems that it is easier to boost the finances of universities by attracting fee-paying overseas students than to obtain financial support from Australian industry or other sources.
I have never seen the term 'business acumen' used in connection with overseas initiatives yet presumably this ability is an essential requirement when doing business overseas. It is here that the problem of business ethics arises. How do Australian negotiators deal with such slogans as, 'business is business' or 'greed is good'? When Australian universities do become involved on a business basis overseas it might be possible to retain some integrity in that when negotiations proceed, the negotiators may know who they are dealing with. However, a major problem arises when the university negotiators will have no idea who they are ultimately dealing with, nor what they are getting themselves into. The international business world is becoming increasingly complex when highly intricate and extended webs of activity develop. Take for example the Australian Institute for University Studies, Excell Education Pty Ltd at Curtin University. It is owned by MUI properties in Malaysia which has interests in banking, finance, insurance, manufacturing and education. Over recent weeks, the Malaysian stock exchange has experienced a downturn. Some small investors have lost all their money, What will happen to the 800 overseas students at Perth if the company in Malaysia gets into financial difficulties or even collapses? We are familiar with the collapse and bankruptcy in Australia of English language teaching colleges but a university bankruptcy seems unimaginable. However, given the highly complex webs of ownership, it is possible that an Australian university could end up with massive debts as the result of overseas failures. For example, the current financial problems that face the University of New England are partly due to the failure of overseas initiatives. We do not know the full extent of Australian losses on overseas ventures, partly because of secrecy but also due to the 'creative accounting' of some universities.
I believe that university decision-makers (with little or no knowledge of the business world) have come to regard parts of the middle-east and Asia as 'The New Silk Route'. Vice-chancellor's statements about the almost unlimited financial scope that overseas students offer to the entrepreneurial Australian university are frequently quoted in the popular press. For example, the acting vice-chancellor of James Cook University, Ken McKinnon was recently quoted as saying, "The international market is a largely untapped market with the potential to earn over $2 billion per year for Australia". Contrast that statement with the claim in a DEETYA report to the OECD that overseas student programs may produce a net loss to Australian universities. The report noted that universities knew very little about the true costs of providing places for fee-paying overseas students.
As the result of the marketing drive designed to attract overseas students, it is now quite common for university representatives to regularly embark on overseas trips with suitcases packed with brochures advertising their wares. They not only visit educational establishments but also attend 'trade fairs', exhibitions and displays. These attendances are not without danger. In 1996 in Korea, an Australian exhibition nearly came to grief when local recruiting agents staged a very active demonstration against the Australian contingent. The agents were afraid that the presence of the Australian advertising and recruiting booth would destroy their livelihood.
In 1996, I was involved in a higher education trade fair, in the middle-east where about eighty university exhibitors from various countries occupied recruiting booths under one roof. Many of the exhibitors knew each other as they were part of regular travelling teams visiting other exhibitions in other parts of the world. I had the feeling that whilst the teams were new silk route travellers, one could also gain the impression that they constituted a 'travelling circus'.
Perhaps there is another solution to the lack of funds for universities. In their book "Economies of Signs and Spaces", Lash and Urry(1994) state that ".....by the year 2,000 the single largest item in world trade will be international tourism" (p194). Given the influences suggested above, that is, macro changes eventually affect key societal institutions, could this world trade affect universities? For example, it is frequently stated that with the abandonment of the binary system we have too many universities in Australia, so why not turn some of them into large-scale tourist organisations? The tourist facilities already exist in the form of; travel agencies, international offices with their glossy brochures depicting sunny Australia, accommodation, sports fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, creches, health facilities, disabled access, car parking, post offices, bookshops, libraries, sports shops, supermarkets, banking facilities, field trips, overseas exchange, adult education facilities and most important of all, global communication systems. Unfortunately, there is no golf course but I am sure this is not beyond the vision of some enterprising vice-chancellor! Although I write this tongue-in-cheek, the situation described is not too far removed from the process whereby certain university activities are becoming increasingly commercialised.
Because universities have grown in both size and scope, the senior management of universities have been urged to become more like the managers of large corporations. When we examine the kind of decisions the university managers have made and the market-oriented language they have used to justify the decisions, it becomes apparent that several have already adopted the corporate style. I do hope the new corporate university managers are not tempted to engage in the same corporate activities of several recent corporate managers. Most university managers will have heard about the corporate activities of Bond and Scase but how about the following? Brian Conway(Cambridge Gulf Exploration), committed for trial for making misleading statements, John Corner (Bisley investment Corp), 18 months periodic detention for misleading and auditor, Phillip Carver (Occidental and Regal groups), four months imprisonment for passport offences having already served for five years for deception, Russell Goward (Westmex Ltd), jumped bail, is charged with false testimony in relation to bankruptcy, Peter Mitchell (Freefold), four years imprisonment for making improper use of his position in relation to the Bond Corporation and finally, Brian Quinn (Coles Myer), awaiting sentence, found guilty of conspiring to defraud. This recent list is by no means exhaustive.
There are two views about this kind of corporate fraud. The first is the notion that there is always a "few rotten apples in the barrel'. The second is, that it is the very nature of business conduct that lends itself to fraud and corruption processes (White and Haines,1996).
Whatever happens in higher education in the future may be determined by current trends. University managers are moving towards to the corporate style which leads to a decline in the collegial style. For academic staff, this shift has created increased friction in universities. For example, electronic mail messages addressed to all in the university can contain long diatribes from individual academics attacking what they see as a shift from collegial control within faculties to highly autocratic control located in the vice chancellor's suite. For these writers a major complaint is that vice-chancellors , and the immediate support administrators have come to view themselves as 'the university'. Increasingly, the decisions made in the upper-administration, with little or no consultation with academic staff, have far-reaching consequences not only for particular universities but for Australian higher education generally. Decision-makers, whilst under the misapprehension that they are the university, may firmly believe that they are acting in the best interests of their own university. Here is a here a concrete example.
In 1992, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Wollongong, whilst on a visit to the US became very impressed with the distance education activities of the National Technological University, a consortium representing 45 US universities. Given the international scope of the NTU with the use of technology, the Wollongong VC became concerned that US high status degrees, for example the Harvard MBA, might be offered by distance study at low cost to Australian students. Whilst understandably concerned with the possible threat to Australian universities, this particular viewpoint (which constantly resurfaces in the literature on higher education) ignores the reality of elite education. Why would Harvard, with possibly thousands banging on the door, devalue their degree by offering a low cost MBA in Australia?
In 1994, the NTU attempted to market its wares via a WORLDNET interactive service to Asia, Australia and New Zealand. I do not know how successful it was as a marketing ploy, however one Australian academic commented, "They are taking advantage of the latest technology to deliver traditional education techniques - essentially a talking head and photographs of pieces of paper.
Prior to the NTU transmission, the University of Wollongong had already begun broadcasting postgraduate courses via the SBS channel. There were numerous problems associated with the development of PAGE at Wollongong which are of no concern here. However, a major problem occurred when NTU videotapes were purchased/leased for use on the SBS channel. These tapes were ethnocentric, US imperialist , misleading and obviously produced on a shoe-string budget. The standard of some tapes, particularly those concerned with management education, were a pedagogic disgrace. Some of the tapes which went to air were no more than stand-up lectures and boring lectures at that. Some tapes instructed Australian management students (without qualification or criticism) about management theories which have long been refuted or significantly modified. Several Wollongong academics have claimed that $280,000 of university money was wasted. The amount is difficult to establish because of the secrecy surrounding both the agreements with the NTU in the US and the SBS in Australia.
I want to make it clear here that I am not criticising the innovative attempt to provide post-graduate distance learning by TV in Australia. The problem with the initiative was that it was predicated on the notion that Australian universities would suffer when globally transmitted, high status overseas degrees would be available at a lesser cost than an Australian degree. This ignores the fact that the credentialling system can only operate successfully through restricted access techniques. This is not a 'more means worse argument' it is merely a recognition that highly stratified societies have to find ways of allocating people to a hierarchical job market. Extensive research by Berg (1970) in the US showed that when the output of graduates was high, employers raised their qualification demands, when it was low, they lowered their demands.
A surprising aspect of the current debates about changes in higher education in Australia is the lack of comment about the future of credentialism. The binary system has been abandoned, undergraduate and post-graduate degrees can be obtained by distance education, two-year undergraduate degrees are available, entry to post-graduated degrees are possible without the possession of an undergraduate qualification and industry-specific MBA's are available. Furthermore, as the direct result of the current government policy, in the future, ability to pay for a place in higher education, may take precedence over ability and hard work.
As education has developed at all levels in Western societies, employers have generally used level of education, place of education or the old 'alma mater' test as means of selecting employees. Given the changes and the complexity mentioned above, on what basis will employers make their decisions in the future? If there is a massive growth in the number of graduates with highly complex credit earnings from diverse institutions, not only from Australia but also from overseas, does this mean that credentialism as we know it will collapse? If this happens, what will replace it? Perhaps, the current batteries of psychologically-based aptitude, values, intelligence, leadership qualities or personality tests that some upper-management applicants are subjected to will become the norm. But here is an interesting speculation. If managers in the private sector are subjected to the humiliation of a wide range of psychological tests, why should vice-chancellors and senior academics be immune? I am referring here only to the senior staff in universities who persist in attempting to define the university as a business organisation through the use of terms such as 'market', 'quality control', 'stakeholders', 'customers' etc. The university is much more than this as some of the submissions to the West Review have already noted.
The efficiency and cost of information technologies have always been controversial issues. For those in favour of technology, the initial cost and later running costs are usually justified on the grounds of increased efficiency. Two recent examples beyond education can cause us to question the latter view. The banks initially invested heavily in information technology on the grounds that transaction costs would decrease. The opposite has happened, transaction costs have increased considerably. The current government has made a similar discovery about information technology costs in government departments. Both the government and the banks have now decided to 'outsource' their information technology services!
In relation to higher education, the various forms computer assisted learning, educational TV programmes and interactive electronic networks are frequently claimed to be the technologies which will 'revolutionise' education in the future. For example, almost ten years ago, Smith ( a retired professor of education in Australia) claimed that egg-crate classrooms will disappear when the full benefits of the computer are recognised. She also claimed that', most teaching could be transferred to commercially- manufactured package at every level of education. This confidence in the potential of technology is reflected in the popular press and weekly journals when articles appear with such titles as, 'The Three Rs Outmoded' or 'Bye Bye Blackboard'. The most noticeable aspect of the pro-educational technology writings is that the pedagogically important issue of content is almost entirely absent!
It is interesting to note here that historically, similar claims to those above were made for 16 mm film projectors, audio tapes and video tapes. However, whilst accepting that current technologies are different in terms of interaction and scope, a key but often ignored issue is cost. In the writings which favour the use of technology in higher education one statement inevitably appears in one form or another but basically it is that, the biggest cost to universities is academic staff salaries. After making this statement, writers usually suggest that the use of technology for teaching and learning is much more efficient and less costly than cumbersome, anachronistic chalk and talk. In adopting such a perspective the high labour-intensive cost of educational technology is frequently ignored. I am referring particularly here to the production of CD ROMS and television progammes which are extremely costly to produce. This cost factor has a further disadvantage. The educational content which the technology carries can become outdated very quickly but because of the initial high cost, it will be in use long after its 'use by' date. For example, during 1983 and 1985 the Open University in the UK produced a series of TV programmes concerned with the social aspects of information technology. Although the content became quickly outdated, videotape versions were still on sale in Australia as late as 1996.
The problems of technology are not entirely in the educational area of higher education. The rationalisation of several university computer systems by CHA Computer Solutions may turn out to be one of the largest losses related to technology in education establishments in Australia. It has recently been claimed that $20 million has been wasted across the 19 member Unipower consortium. Attention has been particularly directed at the University of Adelaide where it is claimed that the hidden extra costs of rationalising the computer systems are nine times the cost of the software ( The Australian, 26 March, 1997, p35).
Having worked in a department of science and technology studies for several years I have found that the recommendations of the technological determinists and techo-optimists seem to be too readily accepted by decision-makers in a taken-for-granted manner. To question such a process is to be labelled a neo-Luddite. I do believe that the future of higher education does not lie in heavy investment and over-reliance, even dependency upon information, communication and teaching technologies. Whilst we can adapt to and control the technologies that we find useful, we should not allow them to determine and control higher education in the future.
I leave the last word to David Clark (1990), the Director of the London Audio-Visual Centre:
When I see the piles of gear on the stages, the pairs of video projectors, the Laser Disc and CD players and MIPS by the gross and the almost inevitable collapse of the demo often after a promising start, I realise that we are in the very early phase of the media revolution. I'm (almost) done with these extravaganzas because I have discovered that all the essential attributes of full interactivity can be delivered with no computer at all. As always, the simpler solutions are the best.
Above, the discussion of the move from industrial to post-industrial society presented the views of various authors who had identified the major macro changes taking place and the effects on institutions of the changes. The theory of the risk society is quite different, in that the major shift is identified as the move from the industrial to the risk society. The basic characteristics of the risk society are; conflicts and cleavages are now based upon hazards and risks, the risks are not natural but man-made, uncertainty occurs in almost every part of human existence. Because of the nature of risk, the risks cannot be calculated. There are many more aspects of the theory (Beck,1992) but they are not of concern to the submission. A key aspect of the theory is that it leads to the notion of increasing uncertainty, for example nuclear accidents, large-scale poisoning, unstable economic systems etc. The source of the problem may be beyond the national boundary, people are thus affected by the problem but are unable to control it.
This is a very over simplified view of risk, however it is only the basic elements that are of relevance to higher education. Decision -makers in universities, have in the past made their decisions within relatively stable situations. Increasingly their decisions are being made in an environment of uncertainty and risk. The wider the implications of the decision, the higher the risk can be. Above, I mentioned the widespread us of terms such as 'pressure'. But who is saying just exactly what these pressures are? How are these abstract forces which are supposed to be acting upon higher education defined? Furthermore, even if such pressures are accepted, why are some responses to the pressures preferred to others ? If these questions are asked, perhaps a few educational disasters might be prevented.
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