Philanthropy and the sustaining of global elite university domination

Charles Harvey, Alison Gibson, M Maclean, Frank Mueller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (SciVal)
117 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

How is it that global elite universities operating in a hyper-competitive world replete with aspirational challengers maintain positions of dominance within the field of higher education decade after decade? Taking a Bourdieusian approach, we argue that the highest-ranking universities strategically leverage pronounced philanthropic advantages to differentiate themselves from would-be challengers. Philanthropy is a critical differentiator because it enables elite universities to sustain privileges that attract highly qualified students, faculty, and powerful supporters, who in turn boost their competitive positions through acquisition of valuable cultural, social, and symbolic resources. Elite universities co-create with stakeholders strong bonds of identification, honing the disposition to give back philanthropically and complete the socially reproductive cycle of elite domination. At a time of increasing concern about social inequalities, our contribution is to uncover how higher education philanthropy – an essentially conservative force – operates to entrench privilege and magnify social differences while purporting to do the opposite.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1
Pages (from-to)433-457
Number of pages25
JournalOrganization
Volume31
Issue number3
Early online date4 Aug 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

No funding being acknowledged.

Keywords

  • Elites
  • inequality
  • power
  • privilege
  • reputation
  • social capital
  • social networks
  • universities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Business,Management and Accounting
  • Strategy and Management
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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