Instrumentalism amongst students: a cross-national comparison of the significance of subject choice

Abstract

Both educational policies and academic literature assume that students take an instrumental approach to their studies at university. However, despite wide-ranging discussions in the academic literature about contemporary arrangements and practices in higher education, empirical examinations of these conditions are notably scarce. This article reports on a comparative qualitative study into undergraduate students’ accounts of studying business or sociology at universities in Britain and Singapore. Drawing on Eric Fromm’s distinction between learning as ‘having’ and ‘being’, the article demonstrates that – regardless of national context – those studying business displayed many elements of passive, instrumentalised, or ‘having’ orientations to learning, whilst those studying sociology showed clear signs of the more active and less instrumental ‘being’ mode of learning. By examining subject allegiance across national borders, this article underscores the importance of recognising subject choice, alongside other important contextual factors, in moving towards a nuanced understanding of student dispositions.

Keywords:

• University
• student dispositions
• higher education
• instrumentalism
• commodification

Notes

1. This self-selecting sample is discussed in further detail in Muddiman (2015, 72–75).

2. In Britain this included a small number of joint honours students and one student studying criminology and social policy. There is considerable module overlap with sociology programmes for students on this degree course. In Singapore the students studying business included those studying joint honours with accountancy, or with a subspecialty in hospitality and tourism management. Whilst it is recognised that there will be some variation within these samples according to the specific degree programme, for the purposes of this project those studying within the social sciences discipline are referred to as sociology students, and those studying business-related degrees are referred to as business students.

3. At the time of research these were the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University. More recently, the Singapore University of Technology and Design and Singapore Institute of Technology have been launched.