Discursive framings of market-based education policy and their negotiation by students: the case of ‘value for money’ in English universities

Abstract

Measures that economise education are typically accompanied by discourses that prime society for change by framing the policy in individualistic and consumeristic terms. This article explores the emergence of 'value for money' (VfM) discourses in the English higher education sector. Using Bourdieu's thinking tools, we explore how VfM is conceptualised by final year undergraduates paying different levels of 'headline' tuition fees at a Russell Group and a Post-92 university. Unsurprisingly, we find qualitative evidence of an increase in VfM negativity as fees rise.However, this does not distribute evenly across different groups of students. At both institutions, undergraduates approach VfM in complex and unexpected ways, drawing on different capitals and often pushing back against dominant discourses. A key finding is that many students report high levels of satisfaction with their institution, course and teaching, while simultaneously expressing VfM negativity because they feel tuition fees are too high.

The Case for Pragmatic Evidence-Based Higher Education: A Useful Way Forward?

“…Much of the cost of HE is borne by the public, paid through taxes. In some countries the cost is increasingly borne directly by students, leading to questions over value for money (Jones et al, 2020) and there are problems with access to HE and dropout rates of students (OECD, 2018).…”

Academic literacies and the tilts within: the push and pull of student writing

“…Higher Education students are often characterised as consumers seeking value-formoney, inducing a fear amongst academic staff that the more traditional values of liberal education are being eroding away. However, the adequacy of this view is being more frequently questioned (Jones, Vigurs, and Harris 2020;Raaper 2019). The data analysis discussed in this paper helps to contribute to this developing counterview by problematising the student-as-consumer mantra.…”

“…The consumer-led policies that continue to shape Higher Education learning raise new questions about how students might come to writing and how they might conceive of writing in a high-cost, high-stakes sector (Fernsten and Reda 2011). Although the need to achieve in academic writing is not new (see Baker 2017;Read, Francis, and Robson 2001;Norton et al 2001), the attention paid to individualised benefits singularises the reason for attending Higher Education (Henderson 2020;Jones, Vigurs, and Harris 2020;Garlick 2014). When the value of a degree is narrowed to its final classification, burden is placed on students in relation to their individual grade attainment.…”

Student loans as symbolic violence

“…Furthermore, Liu et al (2016) found that in those countries where there has been an increase in graduate contributions to higher education, this has been to the detriment of those from less advantaged backgrounds. In the UK, the Augar Review of Post-18 Education and Funding ( 2019) highlighted the importance of 'value for money' (see Jones et al, 2020), and noted that some courses could be delivered more cheaply than their associated tuition fee, while others are more expensive.…”