Marginson warns of ‘tough times’

Professor Simon Marginson, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, Director of the ESRC/OFSRE Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), and Editor-in-Chief of Higher Education, joined the Academic Quality Forum to discuss the very different national outcomes seen throughout the common global pandemic.

In his presentation, he didn’t pull any punches pointing out that countries pursuing the ‘public good’ approach to higher education were substantially better off than marketised higher education systems. Professor Marginson made the observation that the dependence of Australian universities on international students was developed by the Commonwealth as a way of funding the system and creating influence in Asia. The Australian Government built an education export industry with the active support of the universities, at least in part, as a way of not having to fund research. In Professor Marginson’s view, COVID-19 has broken that funding model. As a result, the Australian higher education sector faces uniquely tough times and is at risk of declining in both reputation and capacity unless there is a major shift involving a commitment to publicly fund public sector research.

To watch the webinar recording become a member of the Academic Quality Forum.