Abstract

The role of higher education institutions as active agents of globalization and marketization remains relatively little explored. Economic geographic perspectives are particularly well placed to investigate globalizing higher education as an important economic sector, in addition to its supportive role in the knowledge economy. Drawing on political economic and cultural economic perspectives on marketization and geographic fixes, the study analyzes the motivations and spatial strategies for geographic expansion of universities through the establishment of branch campuses. Based on qualitative interviews with key decision-makers of English universities, I argue that (international) branch campuses enable a range of geographic fixes for higher education institutions: a territorial fix through the geographic expansion and construction of segmented markets and a symbolic fix through the relocation of campuses to places that promise reputational gains. The rapid growth of British branch campuses abroad and domestically (in the global city of London) involve substantial financial and reputational risks and as fixes constitute only temporary stabilizations. The conceptualization of symbolic fixes, in addition to territorial fixes, may enable a more nuanced understanding of the role of space in the construction of segmented, yet relational markets that combines intersecting political economic and cultural economic logics.

摘要

高等教育机构作为全球化和市场化的积极推动者的作用仍然相对较少被探索。除了高等教育在知识经济中的支持作用外，经济地理视角特别适合研究全球化作为重要经济部门的高等教育。本研究借鉴市场化和地理定位的政治经济和文化经济视角，分析了大学通过开设分校进行地理扩张的动机和空间策略。根据与英国大学的主要决策者定性访谈，我认为，（国际）分校启用地理范围的修复高等教育院校：领土修复通过地理扩张和细分市场的建设，以及通过将校园搬迁到有声誉收益的地方来进行象征性修复。英国海外分校和国内分校（在全球城市伦敦）的快速增长涉及巨大的财务和声誉风险，而且修复措施仅构成暂时的稳定。除了地域修复之外，符号修复的概念化可能有助于更细致地理解空间在构建结合了交叉的政治经济和文化经济逻辑的分割但相关的市场中的作用。