Resource type
Date created
2017-10-31
Authors/Contributors
Author: Hendrigan, Holly
Abstract
The Technical University of British Columbia (1999–2002) has received scant attention in the scholarly literature since it was folded into Simon Fraser University and became SFU’s Surrey branch campus. This article uses neo-liberal and institutional theory to understand the university’s economic mandate and the motivations of the staff and faculty who worked there. TechBC’s legislation and oral history interviews reveal neo-liberal influence in its purpose as an economic driver of the province, academic programs intended to satisfy the high-technology labour market, willingness to collaborate with industry, corporate governance structure, and reduced government funding support. TechBC employees were drawn to working at a startup university, building an interdisciplinary curriculum, and employing new online teaching and learning methods. TechBC’s institutional logic of non-conformity and its aspirations to transform the university experience accounts for its community’s positive memories of the short-lived university.
Document
Published as
Hendrigan, H. (2017). Neo-liberalism and Institutionalism in the Short Life of TechBC. Historical Studies in Education / Revue d’histoire de l’éducation, 29(2). Retrieved from http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/4514
Publication details
Publication title
Historical Studies in Education / Revue d’histoire de l’éducation
Document title
Neo-liberalism and Institutionalism in the Short Life of TechBC
Date
2017
Volume
29
Issue
2
Published article URL
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Funder
Language
English
Member of collection
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Hendrigan-Techbc.pdf | 151.2 KB |