Academic capitalisation in the new millennium: the marketisation and corporatisation of higher education in Hong Kong

Universities and other institutions of higher learning now encounter far mo re challenges and are subjected to an unprecedented level of external scrut iny. All providers of higher education today inhibit a more competitive wor ld where resources are becoming scarcer, but at the same time they have to accommodate increasing demands from the local community as well as changing expectations from parents and employers. In such a policy context, univers ities are now much more governed by market ideologies and the corporate dis course of efficiency and effectiveness, which also suggests that the lifest yle of academics is affected as well. This article examines how universitie s in Hong Kong are affected by the ethos of 'academic capitalism', with par ticular reference to the processes of corporatisation and marketisation of higher education.