Neoliberal Ideology in Community College Mission Statements: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

With more than 1,200 campuses serving nearly half of all undergraduate learners in the United States, the community college is a major institution of postsecondary education (Cohen & Brawer, 2003). Conventions of the community college up to late modernity have included public support as well as commitments to teaching, open access, an identified service area, communitybased programs, comprehensive programs, and learning support services (Vaughan, 1997). The community college is particularly distinct among institutions of postsecondary education in that it serves learners through a variety of programs including student services, career education, developmental education, community education, transfer and liberal education, and general education (Cohen & Brawer, 2003). Another singularity of the community college is that it serves a unique student population, including high numbers of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; a disproportionately large share of learners who are African American, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander; and nearly half of firstgeneration college students in the United States (Cohen & Brawer, 2003). Because the community college is often the only viable educational option for members of marginalized communities, the structural outcomes of its mission are of great consequence to educators, policymakers, and citizens concerned with social justice and participatory democracy. Proponents of the community college, referred to by Kevin Dougherty (2001) as functionalist advocates (e.g., Cohen & Brawer, 2003), have identified this institution as "the People's college" and "Democracy's college." Citing its all-around accessibility, functionalist advocates contend that the community college facilitates the realization of the "American dream" for those of humble means and that the institution serves an egalitarian function in society. As one example of this function, advocates assert that the community college provides needed job training for those without the ability, means, or interest to attend four-year institutions. In this view, the community college affords the disadvantaged an opportunity for employment, financial independence, and personal development. Such an outcome may represent the ideal, perhaps; however, in this article, I contrast this vision against pervasive neoliberal discourses that threaten to engulf the mission and purpose of the community college.

They do not buy it: exploring the extent to which entering first-year students view themselves as customers

“…These changes include the prioritization of revenue generation (Alexander, 2001;Clark, 1998;Giroux, 2005;Hill, 2003;Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004), the increased reliance on adjunct faculty (Aronowitz, 2000;Giroux, 2005;McLaren, 2005;Rhoades, 2006), and a reduction in the power of the faculty within institutional decision-making processes (Ayers, 2005;Currie, 1998;Eckel, 2000;Gumport, 2000), among others. While the applications of free-market logic on faculty, governance, and institutional priorities are well documented, few scholars (with the notable exceptions of Brule, 2004;Hill, 2003;Levidow, 2005, Levin, 2005Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004) explicitly discuss the manifestations and effects of free-market logic within the educational lives of college students.…”

Locating and applying critical discourse analysis within education policy

“…In each case, CDA has been used to analyze the talk and texts that inform and constitute the social realities and understandings of policy related to education. This has involved the analysis of everything from mission statements and textbooks produced in response to a policy mandate (Ayers, 2005;Barton & Sakwa, 2011), to transcripts of meetings and evidence considered during policymaking processes (Arnott & Ogza, 2010;Gabriel & Lester, 2014;Scollon, 2010), to name only a few examples. Outside of policy meetings and policy documents, analysts have also considered the representations of policy and policy problems in the media, the responses of educators and other stakeholders, and the text and talk that surround implementation and evaluation efforts over time (Cohen, 2010;Kuntze, Gildersleeve & Pasque, 2011).…”

Should We Use a Capital Framework to Understand Culture? Applying Cultural Capital to Communities of Color

“…Power relations connect seemingly innocuous discursive practices to broader practices of political rhetoric, discrimination, and global financial institutions (McKenna, 2004). In an analysis of community college mission statements, Ayers (2005) concludes that "neoliberal discourse" directs attention to market concerns, so "curriculum is likely to become heavily laden with a market ideology that reinforces and reproduces power asymmetries" (p. 546). By repeating neoliberal vocabulary, frameworks of metaphorical capital have potentially weakened democracy by re-inscribing a framework of capitalism.…”