Effect of marketization on students in higher education: Do they think they are the customer and does it affect high engagement learning practices?

Abstract

Since the U.S. federal government moved funding from institutions to individual students, institutions of higher education increasingly have recruited students using market oriented methods. Some higher education scholars propose that because of this shift in student recruitment toward marketization, "customer" expectations are being created and reinforced within higher education students. This study investigated three institutions of higher education for possible relationships between students' customer attitude and their participation in high-engagement practices for the purposes of understanding if student learning is affected by consumerist expectations. Correlational analysis and linear regression methods were used to identify any relationship. Linear regression was used to further understand how demographic data collected from participants presented more or less relational influence over relationships. The statistical analysis revealed a positive correlational relationship between student perception and student practices in the learning environment. Subsequent demographic division of the sample revealed statistical differences in populations based on divisions by participant reported biological gender, major, academic classification, athletic participation or non-participation, living location, learning location, and percent tuition payment responsibility. Further research is proposed to gain a deeper understanding of individual majors that demonstrated stronger or weaker correlational relationships, expand participant data to additional institutions, collect data over a longer period of time tracking a cohort, and examine online student learning.