Customer, collaborator or co-creator? What is the role of the student in a changing higher education servicescape?

Across the globe, higher education (HE) is experiencing ever increasing turbulence. The more established markets are dealing with pressure on budgets, coupled with government intervention to steer HE in particular directions. In contrast, institutions in many developing economies are facing the challenges arising from managing increasingly rapid growth in HE provision. At the same time attitudes to HE are in flux. Students and their families increasingly have to finance the entire cost of their education and this has spawned a ‘student as customer’ approach. Fee-paying students are demanding more of their Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) while these HEIs claim they are expected to deliver more with less. There is considerable debate and uncertainty about how to respond to these pressures and how to leverage the opportunities they present for students and their HEIs.