What is the purpose of higher education? Live chat, 16 December

There has never been a better time to have a debate about the purpose of the higher education institution. While arguably many have taken on that question since the dawn of mass HE, the sector has now entered into a new phase of change from the United Kingdom to the United States; from Saudi Arabia to South Africa.

Speaking at the University of Wolverhampton about these changes, Professor Andrew Vincent, a fellow at the Royal Historical Society, said: "For some of those who have taught in universities in Britain between the 1960s and 1990s, the present system in 2011 is barely recognisable in many of its practices. A new university system, consciously or not, is being fairly rapidly initiated which will inevitably change the character of what we mean by higher education."

University of Wolverhampton academic, Aidan Byrne, was live blogging the event and noted that there is no "pure vision" for higher education. Rather, there is a conflict of identity between "a corporate community of scholars and teachers dedicated to knowledge and scholarship for its own sake" and "a functional institution serving the demands of the state and the economy: training students for particular jobs."

And it is this conflict of identity we would like to debate in this, our last live chat of 2011. We do not have any of the answers but would like to ask the same question Aidan asks: "Since the 2000s, academic managers and leaders have adopted the discourse of neoliberalism, presented as neutral truth, 'common sense' or realism. 'Choice' trumps all other ideas. Universities form businesses, conduct marketing, undertake 'esteem indications' and surveys. Private income is lionised. Students are encouraged to pursue self-interest: public service is derided. What of the future?"

Join our panel at 12pm GMT on Friday, 16 December to debate the purpose of higher education and suggest ways in which universities can evolve, remaining successful as they do.

You can also contribute on Twitter using the hashtag #HElivechat

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Panel

Miguel A. Escotet, dean, College of Education, University of Texas at Brownsville

Miguel is a professor and researcher specialised in Social and Psychological Research, and Higher Education Policy and Planning. His professional life has mostly been spent in Europe, Latin America and the United States where he's been president, provost, dean and research director in several universities. He holds the UNESCO and United Nations University Chair on History and Future of the University. @MiguelEscotet

Deborah Lock, executive director of enterprise, Kingston University

Deborah was an intensive care Nurse for 12 years, a chartered librarian for eight years, a project manager for four years, and has been working in research, enterprise and knowledge transfer since 1999. She joined Kingston University in February 2008 and is responsible for providing the strategic leadership required to enable the university to further develop and embed enterprise within its mission. @DeborahALock

Andrew McGettigan, freelance writer

Andrew McGettigan is a freelance writer and researcher. He publishes on philosophy, the arts and higher education. He contributed to the 'Alternative White Paper' group over the summer. Andrew's blog is called Critical Education @amcgettigan

Geoffrey Rockwell, professor of Philosophy and Humanities Computing, University of Alberta, Canada

Geoffrey has published and presented papers in the area of philosophical dialogue, textual visualization and analysis, including a book: 'Defining dialogue: from Socrates to the Internet.' He is currently the director of the Canadian Institute for Research in Computing and the Arts and a network investigator in the GRAND Network of Centres of Excellence that is studying gaming, animation and new media. @GeoffRockwell

Claudia Megele, lecturer, The Open University and Goldsmiths University

As well as being an associate lecturer at the Open University and guest lecturer at Goldsmiths, Claudia is also an author and a researcher. She is an editorial board member for journal of Race/Ethnicity (Kirwan institute for Study of Race & Ethnicity). @ClaudiaMegele

Willard McCarty, professor of digital humanities, King's College London

Willard is editor of the British journal, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews (2008-), founding Editor of the online seminar Humanist (1987-) and founding Convenor of the London Seminar in Digital Text and Scholarship (2006-). He lectures widely in Europe, North America and Australia. See www.mccarty.org.uk/.

Gail Wilson, student engagement co-ordinator, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

Gail joined QAA in 2011 and works on a variety of projects to embed student engagement across QAA and support students and student unions in engaging with quality assurance. Prior to this, she served two years as vice-president and trustee of the University of the West of England Students Union, with responsibility for representing students on learning and teaching issues and developing student representation. @gailhwilson

Simon Tanner, director of digital consultancy, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London

Simon is the founding Director of King's Digital Consultancy Services and works with cultural memory organisations on digital strategy. He is co-Programme Director for the MA in Digital Asset Management. Simon founded and leads the Digital Futures Academy for managers on creating, delivering and sustaining digital resources. @SimonTanner

Eric Martin, postdoctoral researcher, London School of Economics

Eric is a researcher at LSE's Centre for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Science. His doctorate, from the University of California, San Diego, was on the history and philosophy of science. Eric is currently writing on philosophy of biology, natural law concepts, and historical aspects of 20th century biology. He has a strong interest in pedagogy, and has lectured on the idea of wilderness and on environmental ethics.