Globalization, new public management and the values of higher education in Europe and a developing country

This paper explores the impact of globalization on the values and aims of European universities. These have developed over the centuries and universities have recently responded to the agenda of New Public Management which endeavours to replace bureaucratic and inflexible management practices with innovative and entrepreneurial management. This has been achieved by focussing on outputs or targets promoting competition and defining clients as customers. In education this has led to a culture of performativity, the creation of league tables and competition between universities. Across Europe it has led to setting of minimum standards and the introduction of state surveillance through quality assurance systems. While globalization has resulted in the creation of one economic space and markets have integrated and gained power, nation states have fragmented and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots has increased. This effect is most clearly seen in developing countries. We briefly outline the configuration and the values of higher education in Sri Lanka and then present a case study exploring the partnership between a UK university and a Sri Lankan training institution. This involves the delivery, using a flying faculty model, of a top-up year to honours degree for students holding an Edexel HND in Computing. The aims and underpinning values of the UK university, the Sri Lankan training institution and the students are investigated.