Convergence in Higher Education: The Strange Case of “Entrepreneurialism”

Prima facie, in the context of higher education, “entrepreneurialism” offers an example of globalisation: the idea presages a sense of systems of higher education converging across the world. However, entrepreneurialism is not undifferentiated but is to be found in different modes. Various axes identified in the paper offer spectra of entrepreneurialism and two are picked out for close inspection: these are, on the one hand, hard-soft forms of entrepreneurialism; and, on the other hand, forms of entrepreneurialism that are set in the context of strong states or strong markets. Set against each other, these two axes produce a grid that depicts four forms of entrepreneurialism: civic; hesitant; unbridled; and curtailed. These forms of entrepreneurialism can be understood as making possible or limiting alternative modes of knowledge travel. Accordingly, it may be judged that, far from heralding convergence, entrepreneurialism turns out to be a metaphor for differences of academic identity and even of academic being. These differences are so profound that they point to value choices as to the desirable forms of academic life itself.