Human Capital in the Making: Learning Individual Responsibility and Competition in STEM Education

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Social Networks, Identity, and Inequality in Student Experiences

Abstract

In this paper, I explore how academic capitalism and the economization of academic science affect the training of STEM graduate students. Drawing on five years of ethnographic fieldwork and 60 interviews across laboratories, a research center, and a federally-funded traineeship program, this study examines how graduate-level STEM curriculum, the culture of STEM departments, and governance mechanisms within higher education reinforce the view of students as human capital. Through their education, students learn to be self-responsible, and to invest in themselves through experiences that will enhance their value and competitiveness on the STEM labor market. The curriculum of graduate STEM education reinforces the view that students should acquire skills and experiences that will help them stand out from their peers. These practices are reinforced by formal audits implemented by academic administrators that push students to be accountable for their success or failure. The paper argues that the curriculum, culture, and governance of graduate STEM education reinforces the view of students as human capital that must be both responsible and entrepreneurial to succeed. Drawing on ethnographic analysis, this study sheds light on the growing tensions between academic science's dual commitment to cutting-edge research and high-quality professional education. Building on theories of academic capitalism, I show how STEM graduate students are configured through curriculum, culture, and governance to meet the demands of an increasingly neoliberal academic and professional environment.

Author

• Timothy Sacco, University of Arizona