Universities empowered or endangered? Academic capitalism and Higher Education in Macao

Abstract

This paper examines the state-market power relations in shaping Macao higher education development since preparations for China’s 1999 resumption of administrative control. Endowed with minimal natural resources, Macao has long relied on its human capital for socio-economic survival and enhancement. Working with entrepreneurialism, as maintained by a government-commissioned consultation report, was the theme for advancing Macao higher education. Amid Macao higher education “massification” and quests for educational credentials, education services offer a promising source of entrepreneurial opportunities and revenue. Such phenomenon will become more noteworthy with Macao’s further integration into the Pearl River Delta. In the past decade, privatization was the trend in Macao higher education expansion. All five new tertiary institutions since 1997 are privately-run. Academic capitalism, defined as the utilization of capital to promote educational development and fulfill the objectives of advancing economic development and competitiveness, has been on the rise in post-colonial Macao. Applying this “academic capitalism” concept, this paper highlights the realpolitik configurations among the higher education sector stakeholders and discusses the concerted efforts by officials and capitalists to steer Macao higher education development. It concludes that the continual development and deepening of academic capitalism in Macao will likely undermine the academic profession’s autonomy whereas academic freedom’s prospects will be highly dubious. Recent warnings from the MSAR legislature ex-Speaker and the University of Macau’s Rector on the imperative of “software” merits (high standard academic personnel and program contents) over “hardware” construction (like the University of Macau’s new campus) in Macao tertiary sector are powerful rebuttals to academic capitalism threats.