The Impact of the Implementation of Neo-liberal Policies in Tertiary Education in Mexico

Abstract

At the end of the millennium Mexico faced the double challenge of adjusting to an economic policy based on open markets and the protection of a reinvigorated democratic political system through an increased awareness of civil rights and responsibilities among citizens. Nevertheless, tertiary education reforms shifted the onus on education from the formation of social capital to that of human capital. I consider the background of the introduction of the neo-liberal model in the Mexican economy, and the economists’ critique of the adequacy of that model. I contrast the latter to the educationalists’ debate in response to where it becomes apparent that the neoliberal model had come to dominate the conceptual framework in which the impact of the introduction of the reform model could be analyzed. Finally, I consider a recent text in which the neo-liberal tendencies in tertiary education are more clearly outlined, although an alternative option is not forthcoming. By situating my consideration of the challenges of a knowledge society firmly within the historical, social and economic context of Mexico, I indicate factors which such an alternative would need to take into account.

Citation

Russell, L. (2005), "The Impact of the Implementation of Neo-liberal Policies in Tertiary Education in Mexico", Tight, M. (Ed.) International Relations (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 255-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3628(05)03011-X