The Impact of Neoliberalism on Designing and Developing Postgraduate Education in Australian Universities

Abstract

This chapter explores the impact of an increased presence of neoliberalism in Australian higher education research environment and considers how today’s university research environment is changing work readiness of postgraduate students in the future. This is a time when neoliberal movement and logic are transforming universities from domestic social institutions to competitive market-based and global export institutions. As a result, the speed of change has intensified neoliberal logic into governance and practice within universities. As a consequence, higher degree research programs and supervisors need to prepare new academics to join a vastly different working world than those of their supervisors. Joining the extant academic conversation means to survive and thrive the transformational change that will be an ongoing concern. A world in which work is measured by numbers, where by academics is quantified, audited, counted and managed through surveillance at distance, the numbers and norms set by university administrators and executives. It will be an entrepreneurial life that requires candidates to manage the tensions of being competitive, co-optive, collaborative, and collegial as a whole. Everyday academics are required to be strategic thinkers and demonstrate behavior that fits with university compliance and strategy. As a result, universities are required to rethink the PhD education, training, and supervision programs for postgraduate students. Changing the focus from being on developing research skills as a form of organizational apprenticeship to being more focused on the preparation required to survive and thrive in a world where the neoliberal movement is seeping into academic everyday lives.