Joanna Williams

Joanna Williams is a senior lecturer in higher education and academic practice at the University of Kent. Her book Consuming Higher Education Why Learning Can’t Be Bought was published in 2013. Joanna is particularly interested in the impact of marketization upon universities, knowledge and the public good in higher education, and academic freedom. She is the education editor of the online current affairs magazine Spiked.

Diversity of Viewpoints is Essential for the Pursuit of Knowledge

Pushing for a lecture to be cancelled, or disrupted so that it is either postponed on health and safety grounds, or goes ahead but speakers are unable to be heard, is censorship, argues Jo Williams, and it is to the detriment of all within universities and wider society alike.

3 years ago

‘Value for Money’ Is Not the Same as Quality in Higher Ed

In the past 15 years and across successive governments in the United Kingdom, the concept of value for money has been internalized throughout higher education. Here, the author of “Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can’t Be Bought” outlines why it is a problem to use student choice and value for money as a means of holding universities to account.

6 years ago