ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role that wider socio-economic processes play in forging identities in higher education (HE). It considers the social-psychological consequences of students’ positioning as ‘customers’ or ‘consumers’ in the wake of the current global trend towards the marketisation of HE provision. The chapter seeks to highlight the extent to which social identities in HE are not solely a function of intra-institutional or inter-institutional processes but, instead, are also determined by the political and ideological forces that shape the broader socio-economic contexts in which the HE institutions are embedded. It deals with and inform contemporary discussion of the global trend towards marketisation of HE by drawing on principles from the social identity approach to self and identity. The chapter attempts to illustrate, that the marketisation process and its concomitant positioning of students as consumers is likely to have consequences for students’ self-definitions, experiences and expectations of HE and learning as well as for their well-being.
