Reflections of a Disenfranchised College Graduate pt. 3
The Idea of the Neoliberal University - What Students Have To Say and Liberal Arts, Humanities, and Truth Seeking as the Antidote
This is part three of a three part post that was originally published in Underground Theory: Coming To A City Near You. If you want to order a physical copy, you can find out more at the end of this post. You can read part one here, and part two here.
by Ann Snelgrove-McKerracher
What Students Have to Say
From the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2021, I was a member of the Intermountain Social Research Lab with the sociology department at my university. The cohort researches the neoliberal university, its effects on and changes to higher education, and students’ thoughts and opinions about it. We were broken up into two groups to create a 60-minute interview instrument to ask volunteer students about their thoughts and experiences with the university.[i] These students responses to our interview questions pointed to the contradictions that exist within the neoliberal university: students value critical thinking and full-service learning and want fulfilling lives and careers, but at the same time they know they need to complete certain requirements and gain job specific skills, thus accepting the mediocre over-priced education that the neoliberal university offers them because at least it will get them a job. Below I will share just a few responses from students that were interviewed in the fall of 2019 and fall of 2020. Each student has been given a pseudonym to protect their identity.
When asked about the quality of his classes, Chris shared:
I think many of my classes, it’s just sort of regurgitating information. And not that they’re not good teachers or anything like that, but I feel like most of my classes have not put that much of an emphasis on critical thinking and taking things away that aren’t explicitly told to you. (Chris, Subject 8211, 2019)
Chris recognizes that something is missing from his classes, that rather than focusing on critical thinking or rigorous discussions of knowledge and truth, information is simply regurgitated, spoon fed to the students with no real work required from them. And while some students have never really experienced a true academic challenge and thus complain about more challenging classes, many students still desire classes that expand their minds and support the idea of truth seeking.
In every interview we asked the students a question along the lines of “how would your life be different if your education were free?” Most students had a very similar answer: they would take more courses of interest, like those in the liberal arts, because they enjoy learning, but the current cost of higher education is too much to justify taking “superfluous” courses that aren’t directly related to their major. Take Paul, for example, who explained:
I could take different classes and kind of search for what I want to do instead of kind of picking something and like, I can’t go experimenting in another class because it’s like 800 bucks. If it was free I could explore a little more (Paul, Subject 9258, 2020)
Some students, however, were duped by this neoliberal ideology that puts the liberal arts and humanities into the “extra” or “unimportant category.” They believed that they needed to study “practical” degrees, even if it wasn’t what they were truly passionate about. Lilly is an example of someone who changed her major out of fear of not being able to make enough money in the liberal arts:
I think there are jobs for people who major in the liberal arts. Now are they well-paying jobs? I don’t know. I think that you can definitely get a well-paying job, but it might be harder. I mean, I think it’s possible, but I feel like overall I get nervous when it comes to certain majors like that because, I would love to be a music major or I’d love to be, I used to do theatre, like, I’d love that. But in terms of having, making money in the future and making good money and supporting your family, like I want to ensure that, and I don’t know if that can totally happen with a job with one of those majors...I definitely would consider doing an elective that is related to those things. I think that’s awesome. I think that once again it’s cool to spread yourself and learn new things. And actually I was originally a media arts major as of the first week of school and then I immediately switched. I just didn’t like it, but I also was media arts, I was doing journalism, and that’s an iffy career choice, journalism, especially with everything being online now. So that was kind of in the back of my mind like “Is it smart to be in this? Like, “will I make money doing that?” (Lilly, Subject 9188, 2020)
Rather than feeling secure enough to pursue something she is passionate about, something that would fulfill her and potentially give her a more rewarding college experience, a more Jasperian experience if you will, Lilly felt a financial pressure and burden to choose what society and the neoliberal university has deemed “practical” or “safe” (marketing in her case).
In terms of thinking about their future careers and what they want and value in life, many students expressed a desire for a meaningful career—one that aligns with their values, allows them freedom and flexibility, and genuinely makes an impact. When asked to comment on the corporate and ultra-productive “hustle” culture we see in America today, Vivian states:
I don’t like that. I’m not a big fan of that. Most likely, our time on Earth is maybe 70 to 80 years if we’re good. And if you’re just working the entirety of it, I think the reason why you’re put on Earth to just work, not enjoy your life, not create an impact on the world. Like, I have some friends in Vietnam, you know, since I’m from there. But they’re expats from UK, Europe, America, and they hated their previous jobs. They worked in corporate fields or they were very successful they hated because they lost all enjoyment. And just by their job of being an English teacher in Vietnam or, you know, doing something simple, they’re “I can enjoy life. I can make an impact or do something productive without hating myself.” (Vivian, Subject 9255, 2020).
Vivian states that she is “not a big fan” of this culture, and she characterizes it as something that makes us unhappy and that is less impactful on the world. In our short time on Earth, she explains that it is important that we enjoy our lives and not get bogged down by corporate America. This corporate workaholic culture is in direct opposition to an enjoyable and meaningful life, which Vivian doesn’t seem to think is possible while working a meaningless corporate job after college.
College students face a looming precarity as they prepare to enter the neoliberal workforce, but they want and value something better than that. Students want to enjoy their time on Earth and not be stuck in corporate jobs, and they want to enjoy their time at the university, yet their one of their solutions to the problems and fears caused by neoliberalism and capitalism in general (inflation, cost of living, debt, etc.) is to take the courses that are boring and oriented towards career prep that they think will help them land secure jobs at corporations. Some students admit that they will do whatever it takes to secure a job. In the same interview, Vivian admits the following when asked if she would be more likely to apply for a position at a corporation that is present on campus:
I would say like, so if I’m just graduating college and I’m desperate for a job, I’m desperate for a job, I would apply to any company. I think that would give me a leg up. For example, I’ve considered going to grad school at University of Oregon or Willamette University, just because I know Adidas and Intel recruit there....like for a first job, ethics, I wish they mattered more. Ethics do matter to me! But also there’s a desperation to start building your resume. Right. (Vivian, Subject 9255, 2020).
Vivian expresses that the pressure to get a job right away makes her desperate for a job at any company. Even though she knows that corporate jobs are unfulfilling, she would be willing to accept a job at any company despite her own ethics. What really stands out in her answer is her admission that maybe ethics don’t matter much when looking for a first job. Neoliberalism has succeeded in altering the course of people’s lives and forcing their priorities towards corporatism and being a lifetime employee. Vivian’s response does not point to a failure in her own judgments, but to a failure of the university for allowing her own ethics and morals, arguably one of the most important foundational philosophical concepts for theorizing about what is the good life, to be trumped by neoliberal and corporate values.
Nicholas, who studied business management at the time, gave a very telling response when asked about how he feels he’s getting his money’s worth at the university:
I have to have this piece of paper that says I’m certified to do this, and I guess that’s why I’m getting this degree (Nicholas, Subject 9644, 2020).
Students no longer conceive of the university as a hub of truth seeking and gaining knowledge for knowledge’s sake—it is now simply the overly priced four-year job preparation school where maybe they learn some history or philosophy on the side (if they’re lucky). The idea of the university is dying, and students are likely becoming more and more disillusioned and fatalistic as we see nothing radically changing within our higher education system or in American society more broadly. The university has not equipped students with any sort of imagination or Jasperian framework to hope for anything better than what is currently being offered.
Liberal Arts, Humanities, and Truth Seeking as the Antidote
I have not given up all hope of the idea of the university. After all I experienced at my university, you would think that I would be completely done with the system. But at the time of writing this paper, I plan on returning to the same school to work towards a Master’s degree. Why would I subject myself to a lifetime of debt for a neoliberalized and vocationalized experience? Partly because at this point, I know how to game the system, I know which professors to go to, and I know how to self-start and make the most out of what is being offered. But I also believe in higher education and always will. So long as there are individuals who choose to attend the university to pursue truth and knowledge and professors there to teach it, the idea of the university will be alive.
I believe that prioritizing the liberal arts and humanities within the university would make a lot of this better. Students’ minds and imaginations would be opened to the big ideas of life that give it meaning. To quote a line from the 1989 film Dead Poets Society: “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” Jaspers agrees that the university should teach truth and knowledge as well as practical skills for a career, but the university should prioritize the community of truth seekers, one which needs philosophy, history, social science, and the arts at the heart of it. The university has the potential to be something great, to be the hub where dialogue can thrive and we can better our selves and our minds.
Unfortunately, I don’t see the university fundamentally changing within my lifetime. We would need to live in a completely different society or world, one in which human lives are prioritized and cherished more than the pursuit of capital, where there exists no working class because everyone’s timenergy is more freed up to pursue their passions and build relationships. Until then, most of us will be left to work 40+ hours a week and barely scrape by as the cost of living gets higher, the culture war becomes crazier, and the climate catastrophe looms over our heads. You can’t blame people for not having the time and energy (or timenergy) to read philosophy on the weekends, nor can you blame college students for thinking they need to pursue a practical degree to have a good life.
But just because any individual is not to blame for the system doesn’t mean that we don’t have a responsibility to actively choose life—to choose our own life. We can fight the attention economy and make the effort to fill our free time with creativity or learning rather than mindlessly scrolling or binging TV shows. While in school, whether it be middle school, high school, or college, we can take our education seriously, do the readings, engage with professors, and pursue the life of the mind to grow as a thinker and a person. We can seek out communities of people that are also actively seeking to make their lives better by studying or practicing the arts and humanities—who are choosing their life and choosing to truly live. I believe Theory Underground is one of those communities, and I am proud to be pursuing education, theory, and philosophy with Dave and other fellow travelers.
By examining and analyzing the neoliberal university, we can understand the ways it has strayed from Jaspers’ ideal university. While we might not be able to fundamentally change the university, or the values of our capitalist society for that matter, we can use our studies to theorize better ways to live our own lives—ways that embrace and pursue the liberal arts and humanities, that value knowledge, education, discourse, and truth. And by making our own lives better and choosing to put in the work, we build the foundations for future generations to reclaim their lives and timenergy and put some pressure on the academic institutions and systems, showing them that this is what we truly want.
End of part 3. Thanks for reading. Please make sure to subscribe to this Substack if you wanna see more!
This post was an excerpt from Underground Theory: Coming To A City Near You. Enjoy it serially here for free. Each part of Ann’s piece will be published over the next couple of weeks. If you prefer a physical copy, orders within the U.S. can get it at a discount here. Otherwise, I recommend getting it from Amazon. Also, stay tuned for the Audible version of this - in production now!
Get involved: Every month Ann Snelgrove-McKerracher and her husband, the founder of Theory Underground, do combined lecture sessions on research they are doing in Critical Media Theory, Critical Doxology and Timenergy, Critique of Gender and Sexuality, Critique of Psychiatry and Therapism, Critique of Political Economy, Critique of Libidinal Economy, and so much more. They draw from popular nonfiction bestsellers (‘doxological artifacts’) and run these against primary works of high theory in an attempt to generate a new kind of critical yet sympathetic discourse. You can view examples of these lecture sessions here. If you want to get actively involved with ongoing lecture sessions, become a TU subscriber today here. All TU Monthly Subscribers also get a PDF of Underground Theory.
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End Notes:
[i] Students from the university volunteered to participate in an hour-long interview and were compensated $5 for their participation.
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