Marketing Aspirations: Narratives of Morality and Worth in Higher Education Advertising

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 23. Stratification Processes in Higher Education

Abstract

This study examines how themes of morality and worth through the pursuit of education are conveyed and marketed in a moment when American higher education is buffeted by a series of challenges. Using marketing videos from several U.S. colleges and universities with some of the largest student enrollments, this study focuses on how such ads depict the pursuit of education as an indicator of one’s morality and worth. Those who pursue education are driven and ambitious role models for their families and communities. Human capital and economic arguments that have driven much of the framing of the value of higher education are surprisingly subdued in the ads. Researchers should pay more attention to how the pursuit of higher education by “nontraditional” or marginalized groups is framed morally, not just economically. These moral framings have implications for understanding the role and future of American higher education

Author

• Phoebe Ho, University at Buffalo