Why do we have a problem with the concept of profit in education?
Profit in education seems to be a very controversial issue among thinkers and professionals in the educational landscape. For some, it’s a relative good while others deem it a necessary and unnecessary evil. Critics that perceive it in the latter light generally assert that profits in any industry tend to do more harm than good. There is, in fact, the major complaint that profit-seeking behaviors in education keep people from doing what is ethical, just, and right. Consequently, the quality of education suffers in the process often making people perceive education to have no benefit or positive outcomes. Bhattacharjee et al., (2011), pointed out that “people doubt the ability of profit-seeking business to benefit society’” (as cited in Stanfield et al., 2012, p. 29).
Other research findings that support this assertion revealed that the “American public often associate greater levels of profit with social harm and for-profit organisations are often viewed as less socially valuable than non-profit organisations” (Stanfield et al., 2012, p. 29). This belief system of profit in education can have rippling effects. For a moment, just imagine if a populace perceived for-profit education as a necessary evil with no societal benefit or added value. What would the outcomes for that society be? Will they be positive or negative? Most likely, such negative perceptions may result in detrimental behaviors like wastage or misallocation of resources in the educational sphere, a decrease in the supply of an educated, trained, and skilled labor force or human resource among others.
There is also the consensus among these critics that profits in education only serve the interests of a particular group of people. Simply put, the argument revolves around the providers and producers of for-profit education serving their own interests or engaging in self-serving behaviors. As such, critics often have a problem with profits in education since providers can be motivated by it and other self-interests as well as act or engage in altruistic, self-seeking, and other related behaviors. In this case, the focus thence shifts from the value added to the customers of their education services to the value, perks, and benefits added to their own pockets.
Altogether, these self-serving and profit motives can cause producers and providers to act unethically resulting in the perception that there’s added value to this group of people while there is none to the intended or targeted group I.e., the customers. For these and other reasons, critics have problems with profit in education.
Can we classify education as a business? If not, how would you classify it?
The classification of education as a business can be viewed from two sides of a coin. On one side, there is the assertion that it is indeed a business while on the other end it is not. Precisely, critics like faculty members assert that education should not be viewed as a business. However, “Continuing claims by the mainstream higher education community that "education is not a business" and is not susceptible to market forces will increasingly be viewed as a Luddite fantasy” (Greenberg, 2004). But can there be an in-between or shades of grey where this argument is concerned?
Well, in this purview, education can be deemed as an independent sphere that uses business methods and structures. Its use of business-like mechanisms unearths commonalities and connections between the two spheres. In fact, Conison (2017) noted that “education and business can, without contradiction, overlap with each other”. Rosowsky (2020) specifically pointed out these similarities highlighting that a good or service is provided, payment is collected, and employees are hired to produce the final product/service in both spheres. He added that both industries compete for market share, have customers, and employ financial resources (Rosowsky, 2020). In this regard, education may not necessarily be considered as a business per say, instead, it is an independent entity that shares commonalities with the business industry and uses similar structures.
Should students be regarded as customers? & Does education create customers for its programs?
As aforementioned, both business and educational landscapes have customers. Essentially, customers are people who make purchases or buy goods and/or services. Students make payments to educational institutions to receive their degrees, training, and certifications. It is thence against this backdrop that students should be regarded as customers.
However, I don’t think that you can create something that already exists. More specifically, customers are already in existence in the market. As such, educational institutions target these customers for their programs. Customers then become a target audience for these programs.
A resounding no! We definitely do not need degree programs for every career niche. Different career paths will require different learning paths. These learning paths may involve formal education, on the job training, or a different form of education. Staley et al., (2011) discussed this matter very nicely specifically stating that, “in a growing number of fields, a certificate is a perfectly sufficient credential for employment, especially in several "middle-skill" positions. Indeed, students may prefer to collect a succession of certificates over the course of their working lives rather than earn a degree at the start of their working lives.” What I love most about this question is that it draws out the notion of the differences in career paths, learning paths, and life paths. Several roads may lead to a specific career destination.
I will wrap this up with the words of the legendary Albert Einstein who once said that “everybody is a genius”. A person does not have to go through the rigorous degree process to be a genius in a particular field.
Image source: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/quotes/education-cartoon-everyone-read/
Krista
MDE student
University of Maryland Global Campus
University of Maryland Global Campus | UMGC
References
Conison, J. (2017, July 28). Basic connections between education and business. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/basic-connections-between-education-and-business_b_597b4c71e4b09982b73763cf
Greenberg. M. (2004). A university is not a business (and other fantasies). EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2004/1/a-university-is-not-a-business-and-other-fantasies
Rosowsky, D. (2020, May 10). If colleges are businesses, why not run them that way? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrosowsky/2020/05/10/if-colleges-are-businesses-why-not-run-them-that-way/?sh=a03c51a56026
Staley, D., & Trinkle, D. (2011). The changing landscape of higher education. Educause Review, 46(1), 16-33. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2011/2/the-changing-landscape-of-higher-education
Stanfield, J., Horwitz, S., Bennett, D., Bergstrom, B., Emilsson, P., Hess, F. M., ... & Vander Ark, T. (2012). The profit motive in education: Continuing the revolution. https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The%20Profit%20Motive%20in%20Education%20-%20Continuing%20the%20Revolution.pdf