Anne-Charlotte Ek

The tension between marketisation and academisation in higher education

Contemporary changes in higher education in Sweden are characterised by two educational discourses: marketisation and academisation. Demands to meet market requirements, as well as to make education more scientific, have created tensions between and within institutional cultures. Using interviews with 16 heads of departments, the authors investigate how tensions between marketisation and academisation were handled in discipline-oriented and professional-oriented departments. The heads of discipline-oriented departments experienced marketisation as a threat to the university trademark, because it was seen to challenge academic autonomy. On the other hand, heads of professional-oriented departments felt that academisation was the main issue to be dealt with, as it shifted focus from practical skills towards academic meritocracy. Consequently, it is not possible to discuss these changes without considering that conditions differ substantially across the university. Responses to these changes can be countered by culturally sensitive strategies, rather than by adopting a ‘one size fits all’ approach.