Dilemma of Academic Capitalism

“Elephant in the room” of academic capitalism poses a dilemma because, even though it is considered natural and will certainly remain on the academic stage of higher education.

“The elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom to describe a big and obvious issue that people are reluctant to talk about, for fear of causing personal, social, or political embarrassment. In higher education today, one such elephant is academic capitalism.

The argument is that as the knowledge-based global economy strengthens and the government budget for public higher education shrinks, higher education institutions need to embrace academic capitalism in their operations.