The Exchange University

The Exchange University critically examines the commercialization of today’s academy. Universities are under increasing economic pressure to develop human capital, science, and technology in support of the need for economic restructuring and international competitiveness. “Market relations” and “knowledge economies” have become key phrases in university debates over research and academic priorities, while privatization reveals tensions between public and private sectors.

Pressures for capital accumulation, research commercialization, technology transfer, and academic capitalism create fractures in today’s universities by weakening boundaries separating academy and industry. Furthermore, through legislation and policy, governments have created quasi-markets that encourage institutional competition both within the public sphere and between public and private sectors.

The Exchange University addresses crucial questions facing today’s university, including the commercialization of research and teaching; intensifying government-university relationships; marketization and commodification; and policy and functional responses within the academy. The book will interest practitioners, students, and academics in educational studies, policy studies, and higher education.