Who are universities for? (co-authored with Tom Sperlinger and Josie McLellan) was published by Bristol University Press and Chicago University Press in September 2018.
![WHO ARE UNIVERSITIES FOR [FC]](https://richardpettigrew.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/who-are-universities-for-fc.jpg?w=194)
Overview
The university system is no longer fit for purpose. UK higher education was designed for much smaller numbers of students and a very different labour market. Students display worrying levels of mental health issues, exacerbated by unprecedented levels of debt, and the dubious privilege of competing for poorly-paid graduate internships. Meanwhile who goes to university is still too often determined by place of birth, gender, class or ethnicity.
Who are universities for? argues for a large-scale shake up of how we organise higher education, how we combine it with work, and how it fits into our lives. It includes radical proposals for reform of the curriculum and how we admit students to higher education, with part-time study (currently in crisis in England) becoming the norm.
A short, polemical but also deeply practical book, Who are universities for? offers concrete solutions to the problems facing UK higher education and a way forward for universities to become more inclusive and more responsive to local and global challenges.
Press coverage
- Is it time for a radical university challenge? The Independent
- How should we fund universities? The Council for the Defence of British Universities blog
- Beyond school qualifications: how to make admissions truly inclusive WonkHE blog
Reviews
Richard Pettigrew's homepage 