This thesis examines the effects of market forces in UK higher education on professional practice in universities and their consequences for the educational experience of international students and those who teach them. It explores whether it is possible in practice for HEIs to reconcile the professional ethics of educators with externally set targets and economic imperatives in an environment which is commercial in orientation and where operational practices are based on a free market philosophy. Policies and practices in international student affairs in Britain are viewed in historical perspective, charting the transition of roles from guest to client with a consequent shift in the demography of the international student body. This, coinciding with a decrease in the public funding of universities, has meant that international study has grown in importance in terms of revenue. The argument is put that this has resulted in international students' acquiring a measure of consumer power the demands of which are thought to impact on British HE. Moreover, the new clients are less likely to possess cultural capital and relevant background in British institutions than their predecessors, and this is liable to impact on curriculum planning and policy making. The thesis identifies Japan as a major source of full-fee paying students. An educational profile of Japan demonstrates how the Japanese have made continuing use of international study to meet the development needs of their society. It shows how, throughout their history, they have been engaged in the importation of educational goods and services and in the consumption of international education overseas. A case study of a curriculum initiative, customised for Japanese students is presented which exemplifies the place of international study in contemporary British higher education. It is field-focused and uses a participant observer ethnographic approach underpinned by statistical data from the 1960s to the present day, thus setting the commodification issue in a historical continuum of international student policy making. The study identifies the factors and forces driving Japanese students abroad and discloses the impact of these movements on the operational practices of institutions, thus serving as a microcosm of the political economy of study abroad. The study concludes that external commercial pressures can be hazardous to academic freedom and professional autonomy yet the consequent operating environment can be exploited in the pursuance of curriculum innovation and the professional development of practitioners and planners.
Permanent link to this resource: https://doi.org/10.24384/dd48-5q59
Walker, Patricia
Supervisors: Welton, John; Hendry, Joy
Faculty of Humanities and Social SciencesSchool of Education
Year: 1997
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