‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities
This article analyses the social contract formulated between state and university, in the period 1850–1930. Using contemporary records–for example, legislation, parliamentary debates, university acts, newspaper articles, senate and professorial board minutes, and similar–this article examines how Au...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/78067 |
| _version_ | 1848763930599489536 |
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| author | Pitman, Tim |
| author_facet | Pitman, Tim |
| author_sort | Pitman, Tim |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article analyses the social contract formulated between state and university, in the period 1850–1930. Using contemporary records–for example, legislation, parliamentary debates, university acts, newspaper articles, senate and professorial board minutes, and similar–this article examines how Australia’s early scholarly community contested and negotiated what it believed to be the purpose of higher education, with a sometimes-conflicting view held by the state. The analysis indicates that, from the outset, certain paradoxes have inscribed into these foundational negotiations. Conflicting narratives of opportunity and privilege positioned universities, simultaneously, as agents for social inclusion and maintainers of social privilege. The purpose of knowledge as either/both pure and practical has been another point of contestation. Consequently, universities vacillate between acts of social conservatism and progressivism. These tensions remain apparent in the modern purpose of higher education institutions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:11:17Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-78067 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:11:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-780672020-05-13T07:18:48Z ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities Pitman, Tim Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Higher education policy inclusive higher education university purpose EDUCATION This article analyses the social contract formulated between state and university, in the period 1850–1930. Using contemporary records–for example, legislation, parliamentary debates, university acts, newspaper articles, senate and professorial board minutes, and similar–this article examines how Australia’s early scholarly community contested and negotiated what it believed to be the purpose of higher education, with a sometimes-conflicting view held by the state. The analysis indicates that, from the outset, certain paradoxes have inscribed into these foundational negotiations. Conflicting narratives of opportunity and privilege positioned universities, simultaneously, as agents for social inclusion and maintainers of social privilege. The purpose of knowledge as either/both pure and practical has been another point of contestation. Consequently, universities vacillate between acts of social conservatism and progressivism. These tensions remain apparent in the modern purpose of higher education institutions. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/78067 10.1080/07294360.2019.1665627 English ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Higher education policy inclusive higher education university purpose EDUCATION Pitman, Tim ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title | ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title_full | ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title_fullStr | ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title_short | ‘Profitable for the country’. An Australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| title_sort | ‘profitable for the country’. an australian historical perspective of the contested purpose of public universities |
| topic | Social Sciences Education & Educational Research Higher education policy inclusive higher education university purpose EDUCATION |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/78067 |