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The State, Public Universities and Public Goods: Time for a New Settlement—The Case of Chile

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Abstract

In Chile, higher education is characterised by a constellation of features that make ‘public’ a multiplicitous idea. In the present study, academics in two public universities are seen to hold strong views in favour of public universities playing public roles and they identify several public goods that they value. These academics also hold ambivalent perceptions of the relationships between the state and the market. On the one hand, the market and the state’s role in it are accorded a limited legitimacy. On the other hand, it is felt that the state does not sufficiently enable its public universities to realise their potential. The paper proceeds to argue that in this ambivalence can be detected four juxtapositions. It is suggested that these juxtapositions together open a space for a new settlement between the state and its public universities such that Chilean public universities might more fully realise their public possibilities.

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Acknowledgements

Support from PIA-CONICYT Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence Project FB0003 and the Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Desarrollo (VID) de la Universidad de Chile, código proyecto AYV028/01-19  are gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [Centre for Global Higher Education ES/M010082/1].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Educacion y Humanidades, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile

    Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela

  2. University College London Institute of Education, London, UK

    Ronald Barnett

  3. Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Ricardo Zavala & Karimme Morales

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  1. Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela
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  2. Ronald Barnett
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Correspondence to Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela.

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Guzmán-Valenzuela, C., Barnett, R., Zavala, R. et al. The State, Public Universities and Public Goods: Time for a New Settlement—The Case of Chile. High Educ Policy 35, 375–396 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-020-00216-8

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