Regional inequalities among state universities in Chile

Perspectives on centralization and neoliberal development

Bibliographic Data

ID21640095
AuthorsNicolas Gregorio Fleet Oyarce (0000-0002-7570-2715, Alberto Hurtado University), Arturo Flores, Arturo César Pomacaja Flores (0009-0002-2802-9377, University of Tarapacá), Braulio Montiel (University of Chile), Alvaro Palma, A González Palma (University of Tarapacá)
Year2024
Volume32
Publication date2024-02-06
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation Policy Analysis Archives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1068-2341 • E-ISSN: 1068-2341
PublisherMary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.14507/epaa.32.8193
OpenAlexW4391558757
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

Drawing on perspectives from top state-regional universities’ authorities (known as rectors) and public statistics on higher education, we discuss the sources of regional inequality in the Chilean university system. While there is scarce research on regional inequality for Chilean higher education, it is a well-recognized concern within global debates. In this study, the testimonies of rectors link perceptions of regional inequality to the historic, political, and managerial dimensions that have determined their institutions’ development. As the problem of regional inequality stems from a tradition of political centralization, the neoliberal transformations, imposed since 1981, were singled out by the rectors for institutionalizing patterns of marketization that reinforced “inequalities of origin” for state-regional universities. Since the 2000s, trends of massification, regulation, and student protests reshaped higher education, leading to sectorial reform in 2018. However, competitive disadvantages are seen to continue to hinder the public role of state-regional universities. Institutional development strategies emerged, under the direction of rectors, to compensate for such inequalities, differentiating between winners and losers of neoliberal higher education. This article characterizes the modes of reproduction and overcoming of regional inequalities among state universities under neoliberal policy

Economic growth · Economics · Higher education · Inequality · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Higher Education and Sustainability · Higher Education Governance and Development · Higher Education in Latin America · Public Administration

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