Reimagining the "New Normal": Advancing the Study of Privatization in U.S. Higher Education

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Changing Higher Education Within an International Context

Abstract

Privatization in U. S. higher education has been framed as the “new normal,” or something scholars treat as the default state of affairs with little expectation of change in the foreseeable future. This paper synthesizes the literature on privatization, calling for a renewed research agenda that challenges this normalization and reinvigorates study of the topic. We analyze the conceptualizations, origins, catalysts, and manifestations of privatization in the literature. We advance five arguments about the privatization throughout the chapter, underscoring conceptual murkiness, fragmented lines of inquiry, unanswered questions, and methodological limitations. Finally, we propose a multi-level framework to understand the privatization literature and bring together disparate strands of inquiry.

Authors

• Joshua Brown, University of Virginia

• Sondra Nicole Barringer, Southern Methodist University

• Kevin R. McClure, University of North Carolina - Wilmington