The Total Quality Policy for Excellence in Higher Education: A Tool to Extend Neoliberal Ideology

Abstract

This article critically examines the relationship between neoliberalism and higher education policies, specifically focusing on the concept of total quality as a tool for extending neoliberal ideology. The first section of the article presents an overview of the neoliberal approach, highlighting its emphasis on deregulation, privatization, and disengagement of the state. The second section focuses on the implementation of total quality policies in higher education, discussing the concept of excellence and how it has been operationalized in neoliberal terms. Through this analysis, the article argues that total quality policies constitute a radical transformation of the traditional role of universities as sites of research and knowledge production, and instead position them as instruments for promoting business interests and market-oriented values. By examining the implications of total quality policies in higher education, this article aims to contribute to broader debates on the radical transformation of the Humboldtian University, once devoted to research and now replaced by a neoliberal “MacUniversity”.