ABSTRACT This article explores university students’ constructions of the ideal student at present-day university, that emphasises student-as-consumer culture and employability rather than education as a virtue in itself. The research is based on thematic narrative accounts (n = 67) generated in a generalist field in one regional Finnish university. We apply a narrative-discursive approach to analyse how ‘traditional’ young students (n = 34) and ‘non-traditional’ mature students (n = 33) position themselves in relation to the ideal good student in a present-day university and in relation to their university studies. Moreover, we examine some of the consequences of such positionings for the students themselves. Our analysis indicates that the present-day university student is constructed in line with the ideal student of the neoliberal order and student-as-consumer culture. However, whereas mature students positioned themselves as customers and were comfortable with the demands of today’s university for self-directedness and self-responsibility, younger students positioned themselves as ‘school pupils’ and were critical about being left on their own without adequate support. The study suggests that the terms ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ make differences related to age and different kinds of student positionings visible and, thus, also possible to reconstruct the ideals and normalities of the present-day neoliberal university.

中文翻译：

---

芬兰地区大学的“非传统”和“传统”学生：要求苛刻的客户和需要支持的学生

摘要 本文探讨了当代大学大学生理想学生的构建，强调学生作为消费者的文化和就业能力，而不是教育本身的美德。该研究基于芬兰一所地区大学的通才领域中生成的主题叙事帐户（n = 67）。我们应用叙事-话语方法来分析“传统”年轻学生（n = 34）和“非传统”成熟学生（n = 33）如何将自己定位于当今大学和大学的理想好学生。与他们的大学学习有关。此外，我们检查了这种定位对学生本身的一些后果。我们的分析表明，当今大学生的构建符合新自由主义秩序和学生即消费者文化的理想学生。然而，成熟的学生将自己定位为顾客，对当今大学对自我导向和自我责任的要求感到满意，而年轻学生将自己定位为“小学生”，并批评在没有足够支持的情况下独自一人。该研究表明，“传统”和“非传统”这两个术语使与年龄和不同类型学生定位相关的差异变得可见，因此也有可能重建当今新自由主义大学的理想和常态。成熟的学生将自己定位为顾客，对当今大学对自我导向和自我负责的要求感到满意，而年轻学生则将自己定位为“小学生”，并批评在没有足够支持的情况下独自一人。该研究表明，“传统”和“非传统”这两个术语使与年龄和不同类型学生定位相关的差异变得可见，因此也有可能重建当今新自由主义大学的理想和常态。成熟的学生将自己定位为顾客，对当今大学对自我导向和自我负责的要求感到满意，而年轻学生则将自己定位为“小学生”，并批评在没有足够支持的情况下独自一人。该研究表明，“传统”和“非传统”这两个术语使与年龄和不同类型学生定位相关的差异变得可见，因此也有可能重建当今新自由主义大学的理想和常态。