Choice and information in the public sector: a Higher Education case study

Harding, Jamie (2012) Choice and information in the public sector: a Higher Education case study. Social Policy and Society, 11 (02). pp. 171-182. ISSN 1474-7464

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1474746411000534

Abstract

Successive governments have encouraged the view of users of public services as consumers, choosing between different providers on the basis of information about the quality of service. As part of this approach, prospective students are expected to make their decisions about which universities to apply to with reference to the consumer evaluations provided by the National Student Survey. However, a case study of a post-1992 university showed that not all students made genuine choices and those who did tended to be in stronger social and economic positions. Where choices were made, they were infrequently based on external evaluations of quality.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: welfare consumerism, choice and higher education
Subjects: L200 Politics
X300 Academic studies in Education
X900 Others in Education
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Social Sciences
Depositing User: Helen Pattison
Date Deposited: 13 Apr 2012 13:13
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2023 14:03
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6190

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