Selling futures: A new image for Australian universities?

In the last decade or so Australia's higher education has undergone a period of reform. A significant element of this reform is the degree to which the university has been held to be accountable in terms of the economic needs of the nation. More than ever before the university has been forced into producing the human capital needs of the Australian economy. This policy shift has seen the emergence of a more instrumental university. This shift is particularly reflected in university promotional material and stratagems which are the subject of analysis in this paper. They show the extent to which an instrumental ethos pervades the process by which universities image themselves.