The promises of creative industry higher education: an analysis of university prospectuses in Malaysia

Abstract

In the context of economic growth policies that stress the importance of a ‘creative economy’, and the expansion of private universities, there has been an enormous growth in the number of creative industry degrees offered by Malaysian HEIs. This paper provides a critical discourse analysis of the promotional materials used by two private institutions, Multimedia University and Limkokwing University, to persuade students that these degrees will offer them a desirable future as employable ‘industry savvy and tech savvy’ creative graduates. We explore the structures of feeling that promotional material seeks to engender in potential students as it promises them future success in a globalised, high-tech world.

Keywords:

• creative industry
• higher education
• promotion
• Malaysia
• cultural and economic policy
• structures of feeling

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Chris Land and Doris Eikhof for an invitation to present an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.