Marketisation and Education Marketing: The Evolution of a Discipline and a Research Field

Abstract

This chapter provides an historical perspective on the evolution of educational marketing both as a professional field within the management and leadership of educational organisations and as a research field for academics and practitioners. It weaves together three important strands of analysis:•The evolution of the political, economic and social ideologies which have created the context in which marketisation of education has occurred.•The development of approaches to educational marketing in schools, colleges and universities.•The development of the research arena focused on marketisation and marketing in educational institutions.

The analysis considers the challenges that market-based concepts have brought to the existing hegemonies within both education and academic research, and also the politics and sociology of academic research. This provides a perspective on the challenges of developing a ‘new’ research field as a valid and significant area of study. The chapter concludes that educational marketing has evolved very significantly over the last 30 years, but has a done so in a context of substantial intellectual and sociological challenge. Resistance to its development has at times reflected resistance to the underlying concepts of marketisation rather than a concern that its approaches and findings are not important.

Citation

Foskett, N. (2012), "Marketisation and Education Marketing: The Evolution of a Discipline and a Research Field", Oplatka, I. and Hemsley-Brown, J. (Ed.) The Management and Leadership of Educational Marketing: Research, Practice and Applications (Advances in Educational Administration, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 39-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3660(2012)0000015004