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Neoliberal Consequence: Data-driven decision making and the subversion of student success efforts

Leonard Taylor

Review of higher education/˜The œreview of higher education · 2020 · 32 citations · 0 references

DOI

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TL;DR

The study investigates how administrators, faculty, and staff involved in student success at research universities experience data‑driven decision making. The authors used critical discourse analysis of interviews and institutional documents to trace how neoliberal and economic logics spread through data‑driven decision‑making practices. The study found that data‑driven decision making commodified data and fostered market‑like embedded markets, increasing competition and eroding collaboration, thereby inhibiting student success efforts and informing research, practice, and policy.

Abstract

In this study I explored the experiences of institutional actors (e.g. administrators, faculty and staff members) responsible for student success efforts at research universities. Through Critical Discourse Analysis of interview transcripts and institutional documents, I traced how neoliberalism and other economic logics propagated through the implementation of Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) practices. Among the consequences of this propagation were: 1) the commodification of data, whereby institutional actors were expected to use data-as-capital to gain access to additional resources and support; and 2) the emergence of market-like environments, or embedded-markets, which amplified competition and eroded collaboration amongst those responsible for student success efforts. Insights from this study demonstrate how data-driven practices intended to enhance student success, served to inhibit student success efforts. This study has implications for research, practice, institutional decision-making, and institutional policies.