The University: a social equalizer or economic agent of national competitiveness?

Resum

From the 1980s onward, globalization has been the catalyst for the transformation of higher education from a pedagogical exchange to a market relationship. As in other developed market economies, changes in Australia have been linked to the reinvention of universitiesas a tool of economic reconstruction with the primacy ofnational socio-economic objectives fuelling a transformation in higher education’s primary role from that of a social equalizer to an agent of national economic competitiveness. This paper reports on an initiative from one regional Australian university, Charles Sturt University, to reinvigorate social imperatives through curriculum renewal of its undergraduate programs.