Student Engagement in Neoliberal Times

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Exploring Mainstream Views of Student Engagement

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Glimpsing Student Engagement

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 3-19

   3. Mainstream Perspectives and Frameworks

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 21-35

   4. Towards an Emergent Mainstream Engagement Framework

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 37-54

3. Questioning the Mainstream View

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 55-55

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   2. Higher Education in Neoliberal Times

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 57-75

   3. Student Engagement and Neoliberalism: An Elective Affinity?

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 77-93

   4. A Critique of Mainstream Student Engagement

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 95-112

4. Student Engagement Beyond the Mainstream

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113

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   2. Student Engagement Beyond the Mainstream

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 115-130

   3. Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Engagement

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 131-149

   4. Towards a Critical Curriculum for Engagement

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 151-168

   5. Supporting Engagement Through Critical Evaluation

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 169-186

   6. Through Distributive Leadership to Critical Engagement

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 187-201

   7. Achieving Change: Opportunities, Challenges and Limits

      • Nick Zepke

      Pages 203-215

5. Back Matter

   Pages 217-234

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This book investigates origins, meanings, uses and effects of student engagement in higher education, and addresses three core questions: (1) Why is student engagement so visible in higher education today? (2) What are its dominant characteristics? (3) What is missing in the popular view of student engagement? These questions pave the way for a fresh approach to student engagement.  


The book argues that an elective affinity between student engagement and policies embedded in neoliberalism, the dominant ideology of the early 21st century, enables student engagement to transcend diverse intellectual and practice contexts. This affinity encourages quality learning and teaching that enables student to succeed in their studies and future careers.  


The book shows that focusing on neoliberal objectives for learning and teaching limits the potential of student engagement in higher education. This conclusion leads to a critical and practical social-ecological perspective that approaches engagement more as a pathway to social justice than as a list of techniques. 


This book is a work of critical scholarship backed by empirical research. It questions accepted theories and practices and offers fresh insights into student engagement in higher education, including how engagement could promote social justice.  

• Active citizenship
• Civic engagement
• Community engagement
• Disengagement
• Elective affinity
• Human capital orientation
• Individual well-being
• Learning partnerships
• Patterns of engagement
• Quality learning in higher education
• Quality teaching in higher education
• Social well-being
• Student engagement as meta-construct
• Student engagement frameworks
• Student engagement practice
• Student engagement theory
• Student participation
• Student success
• Subjective well-being
• Variables of engagement

“This book is beneficial in that it provides alternative directions for developing brand-new student engagement from critical and emancipatory perspectives. If you are devoted to developing your own engagement pedagogy far away from the influence of the elective affinity, keen on critical analyses in education, or seek a path to achieve a more just society, then this book is meant for you.” (Si-Yao Wang and Ya-Ting Huang, Higher Education, Vol. 78, 2019)

• Institute of Education, Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand

  Nick Zepke

Nick Zepke is a recently retired Associate Professor in adult education in the Institute of Education at Massey University in New Zealand. He has taught, researches and publishes in three interrelated areas: learner centred teaching, education policy studies, and lifelong and lifewide education. He has published six books, more than 100 articles in respected international and local journals, and numerous commissioned reports in these areas. Since 2009 his research has focused on student engagement in higher education. He has published 19 articles and book chapters in the area.

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