Students’ Evaluations of Profit and Utility of Higher Education: A Comparative Case Study

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent turn toward a capitalist approach to higher education with specific reference to thesocial, demographic, and legislative changes, including growing academic capitalism, which led to a transformationin Israel’s higher education system. In an empirical comparative case study of students from Israel and Russia, thisstudy explores students’ assessments of profit and utility of an academic education and its value in the respectivelocal job markets. Findings confirm that students have adopted a capitalist approach to academic degrees, to whichuniversities and colleges have responded by incorporating major changes and effectively instituting a paradigmaticshift in the roles and mission of higher education.