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Generic distinctiveness and the entrepreneurial self: a case study of English Higher Education
- Source :
- Journal of Youth Studies. 21:1216-1231
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Informa UK Limited, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Young people are increasingly called upon to invest in educational qualifications, experience opportunities and other character forming activities in order to stand out from the crowd. This fetishizing of generic distinctiveness is promoted throughout education in England, and particularly Higher Education. This paper considers the policy and theoretical implications of the quest to enfranchise distinctiveness in English HE. From a policy perspective the universal promotion of distinction reflects how recent neoliberal reforms in HE have been moderated by a commitment to a liberal ethos of equality of opportunity. Theoretically the mantra of standing out from the crowd is emblematic of the entrepreneurial self as a tool of governmentality. The expectation of compulsory distinction encapsulates the duality of individualisation and regulation that is central to the project of governmentality. This duality is also implicit in the activity of enterprise and how it is calibrated by competition. Being entrepreneurial stimulates innovation but the uncertainty of competition may simultaneously stimulate isomorphic behaviours. The paper concludes by reviewing what the promotion of generic distinctiveness infers for young people and how the promotion of distinction is also bound up with the mantra of confidence.
- Subjects :
- LB2300
Sociology and Political Science
Higher education
business.industry
media_common.quotation_subject
05 social sciences
Neoliberalism
050301 education
General Social Sciences
Employability
GF
Ethos
Competition (economics)
Promotion (rank)
0502 economics and business
Optimal distinctiveness theory
Sociology
Positive economics
Life-span and Life-course Studies
business
0503 education
050203 business & management
Governmentality
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14699680 and 13676261
- Volume :
- 21
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Youth Studies
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9441a9cfc0bcf5ed7e32daf5710a568f