Global Values in Higher Education 343revise curricula and modalities of learning at the pace required by indus-
try and students - and it will take creative and persuasive leadership to
achieve this goal. The Chairman and CEO of Tupperware Brands Cor-
poration, Rick Goings^279 raises an interesting perspective, pointing out
the inherent changes in the jobbing market, influenced by the technology
revolution. He notes that jobs are disappearing faster than they are creat-
ed, whilst companies are finding difficulty to attract people with the
right skills. The speed and breadth of innovation is affecting all jobs and
every skills set; yet whilst there is a skills gap, today’s education system
can’t keep up with the pace of change. Too many of today’s graduates
and the skills they possess are often discounted.’^280
Patents, copyright, intellectual property and royalties are now the
buzzwords in higher education with the emphasis on research, innova-
tion and commercialisation. Education in the twenty-first century is as
much a service that can be bought and sold as it is a fundamental human
right and a public good. Students are called ‘clients’, we buy and sell
intellectual ‘property’, and those who cannot afford education remain
largely excluded. The traditional notion of the university as a public
good and the primacy of academic freedom and institutional autonomy
are increasingly being challenged by the relentless demand for marketa-
ble knowledge and skills that will grow economies and make profits.
Thus, ‘public good’ has been re-conceptualized to include a good return
on investment and a profit. Not surprisingly, by 1973, the World Bank
had cast higher education as ‘a private good, with low returns.’^281
Harkavy is singularly less enthusiastic about this changing face of high-
er education. He points out:
Perhaps the most important consequence of commercialisation of
higher education is the devastating effect that it has on the values279
280 2016: 1-^2
281 See also Sledge and Fishman 2014: 20^
Temel 2016: 1