Making sense of higher education: students as consumers and the value of the university experience

• Published in: Studies in higher education (Dorchester-on-Thames) Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 48 - 67
• Main Authors: Woodall, Tony, Hiller, Alex, Resnick, Sheilagh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Business Education; Business schools; College Students; Competition; Consumer Economics; Consumers; Foreign Countries; Foreign students; Globalization; Higher Education; Institutions; Marketing; Mixed Methods Research; Scaling; sensemaking; Statistical Analysis; student as consumer; Student Role; Student School Relationship; student value; Students; United Kingdom; Universities; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0307-5079; 1470-174X
• DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2011.648373

In the global university sector competitive funding models are progressively becoming the norm, and institutions/courses are frequently now subject to the same kind of consumerist pressures typical of a highly marketised environment. In the United Kingdom, for example, students are increasingly demonstrating customer-like behaviour and are now demanding even more 'value' from institutions. Value, though, is a slippery concept, and has proven problematic both in terms of its conceptualisation and measurement. This article explores the relationship between student value and higher education, and, via study in one United Kingdom business school, suggests how this might be better understood and operationalised. Adopting a combined qualitative/quantitative approach, this article also looks to identify which of the key value drivers has most practical meaning and, coincidentally, identifies a value-related difference between home and international students.