Australia faces academic crisis as profit-driven policies erode university standards
The focus on international student fees has led to soaring class sizes and diminished academic support, raising concerns about quality
However, noticeably absent from the flood of protest has been any acknowledgement of what critics argue is the greatest threat to the sector’s integrity: the entrenchment of a corporate culture that has prioritised profit, enriched university executives and private consultants, and left academics marginalised, demoralised and burned out.
“University administrations are dominated by businesspeople who generally have little experience … are contemptuous of teaching staff and unforgiving of criticism,” said one academic in Western Australia who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions.
“They have undermined security of employment, eroded pay and working conditions, and imposed ever-increasing teaching and administrative workloads … [they] have made academic life untenable. I would not recommend a career in academia to anybody.”
Australian’s universities have long been held in high esteem. Following World War II, they enjoyed widespread support as bastions of “universal” knowledge, fostering a broad understanding of the world. The sector grew steadily in the 1960s and 1970s, providing free education to Australians while expanding to host as many as 25,000 international students annually by the early 1980s.
But nearly four decades of “reform” has left some 3 million local graduates burdened with A$75 billion (US$50 billion) in student debt, and built a behemoth that caters to hundreds of thousands of international students paying considerable tuition fees. Turbo-charged by policies producing “job ready” graduates and a path to permanent residency, Australia’s tertiary education sector has morphed into a transnational business which generated some A$36 billion in economic activity last year.
