Title: Australia in India: A Case Study of the Commodification and Internationalisation of Higher EducationSubmitted by: Bill Damachis, Michael Gillan and John McGuire, South Asia Research Unit Curtin University of Technology, AustraliaWithin a broader context of developing Australia-India trade linkages, over the last five years there has been a rapid growth in the number of fee-paying students from India within the Australian education system (overwhelmingly in the sectors of vocational and higher education). This paper will provide an overview of the performance, operational procedures, strategies and market objectives of Australian institutions and related marketing agencies in India. This will be examined within the general context of the historical development of the Indian higher education sector and the socio-economic forces which have conditioned student demand (and the higher education sector in general) in the wake of significant measures of 'structural adjustment' in the Indian economy under different political/policy regimes. The structural imperatives which are driving the "internationalisation" and commodification of Australian education will also be considered to allow for an analysis of the character of intensifying global linkages between (primarily publicly funded) national education sectors. In this respect, it may be that the 'globalisation' of higher education will involve an ongoing (political) contestation, at a domestic and international level, over the self-definition, ethos and meaning of the "international" university. Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
|