The Education-Industrial Complex Going Global

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7577/seminar.6170

Keywords:

education-industrial complex, corporate influence, globalization, COVID, education technology

Abstract

In 1994, I first wrote about an education-industrial complex that was emerging in the United States. The education-industrial complex was defined as networks of ideological, technophile and for-profit entities that sought to promote their beliefs, ideas, products and services in furtherance of their own goals and objectives. In the years since, the education-industrial complex has grown into a global phenomenon and has become a major force among powerful players (i.e., mega-corporations, international interest groups, and government officials) to influence education policy. This paper describes the present global education-industrial complex and concludes with a call to monitor and study its further evolution.

References

Barnum, M. (2018). The Gates Foundation bet big on teacher evaluation. The report it commissioned explains how those efforts fell short. Chalkbeat, May 21, 2018. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2018/6/21/21105193/the-gates-foundation-bet-big-on-teacher-evaluation-the-report-it-commissioned-explains-how-those-eff [Accessed: 15.07.2023].

Breakspear, S. (2012). The Policy Impact of PISA: An Exploration of the Normative Effects of International Benchmarking in School System Performance. OECD Education Working Papers (71), OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/the-policy-impact-of-pisa_5k9fdfqffr28-en [Accessed: 29.07.2023].

Dabbagh, N.,Bass, R., Bishop, M.J., Costelloe, S., Cummings, K., Freeman, B., Frye, M. Picciano, A.G., Porowski, A., Sparrow, J., & Wilson, S. J. (2019). Using technology to support postsecondary student learning: A practice guide for college and university administrators, advisors, and faculty. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. https://whatworks.ed.gov [Accessed: 20.07.2023].

Faust, D. G. (2015). Three forces shaping the university of the future. World Economic Forum. https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/01/three-forces-shaping-the-university-of-the-future/ [Accessed: 01.08.2023].

García Mathewson, T., & Butrymowicz, S. (2020). Ed tech companies promise results, but their claims are often based on shoddy research. The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/ed-tech-companies-promise-results-but-their-claims-are-often-based-on-shoddy-research/ [Accessed: 20.07.2023].

Gates, B. (2020). Annual Letter. Gates Notes - Blog of Bill Gates. https://www.gatesnotes.com/2020-Annual-Letter?WT.mc_id=20200129100000_AL2020_GFG-ORG_&WT.tsrc=GFGORG [Accessed: 15.07.2023].

Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hegel, G. F. (2015). The science of logic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (First publication 1812).

Kolmar, C. (2023). The 10 Largest For-Profit Education Companies in the World. Zippia Career Experts. https://www.zippia.com/advice/largest-for-profit-education-companies/ [Accessed: 11.07.2023].

Lingard, B. (2015). The Learning Curve of Pearson. Education International. https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/21319:the-learning-curve-of-pearson [Accessed: 19.07.2023].

Meyer, H.-D. (2013). OECD's PISA: a Tale of Flaws and Hubris. Teachers College Record. www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=17371 [Accessed: 19.07.2023].

Picciano, A. G. (1994). Technology and the evolving education-industrial complex. Computers in the Schools, 11(2), 85-101.

Picciano, A. G. (2019). Artificial intelligence and the academy’s loss of purpose! Online Learning, 23(3). https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/2023 [Accessed: 01.08.2023].

Picciano, A.. G., & Spring, J. (2013). The great American education-industrial complex: History, technology and profit. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

Saunders-Hasting, E. (2022). Private virtues, public vices: Philanthropy and democratic equality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0034670523000578

Schmitz, H. P., & McCollim, E. M. (2021). Billionaires in global philanthropy: a decade of the Giving Pledge. Sociology, 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-021-00580-0 [Accessed: 27.07.2023].

Sjøberg, S. (2017). PISA Testing: A global education race?. Europhysics News. https://www.europhysicsnews.org/articles/epn/pdf/2017/04/epn2017484p17.pdf [Accessed: 16.07.2023].

Srinivasan, R., & Bloom, P. (2021). Tech Barons Dream of a Better World – Without the Rest of Us. In B. Herlo, D. Irrgang, G. Joost, & A. Unteidig (Eds.) Practicing Sovereignty (pp. 23–46). transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839457603-002 [Accessed: 24.11.2023].

Stecher, B. M., Holtzman, D. J., Garet, M. S., Hamilton, L. S., Engberg, J., Steiner, E. D., Robyn, A., Baird, M. D., Gutierrez, I. A., Peet, E. D., Brodziak de los Reyes, I., Fronberg, K., Weinberger, G., Hunter, G. P., & Chambers, J. (2018). Improving teaching effectiveness: Final report: The intensive partnerships for effective teaching through 2015–2016. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2242.html [Accessed: 15.07.2023].

Strauss, V. (2020). Bill and Melinda Gates have spent billions to shape education policy. Now, they say, they’re ‘skeptical’ of ‘billionaires’ trying to do just that. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/02/10/bill-melinda-gates-have-spent-billions-dollars-shape-education-policy-now-they-say-theyre-skeptical-billionaires-trying-do-just-that/ [Accessed: 15.07.2023].

Strauss, V. (2016). Pearson’s history of testing problems — a list. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/04/21/pearsons-history-of-testing-problems-a-list/ [Accessed: 14.07.2023].

Todorov, G. (2023). General Google Classroom stats and facts 2023. Thrive myway. https://thrivemyway.com/google-classroom-stats/ [Accessed: 10.07.2023].

UNESCO (2021). Global Education Monitoring Report 2021/2: Non-state actors in education: Who chooses? Who loses?. Paris, UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379875 [Accessed: 15.07.2023].

UNESCO (2023a). An ed-tech tragedy? Educational technologies and school closures in the time of COVID-19. UNESCO. https://www.unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386701 [Accessed: 24.11.2023].

UNESCO (2023b). Global Education Monitoring Report 2023/4. Global education monitoring report, 2023: technology in education: a tool on whose terms? UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385723 [Accessed: 24.11.2023].

Downloads

Published

2025-06-19

How to Cite

Picciano, A. (2025). The Education-Industrial Complex Going Global. Seminar.net, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.7577/seminar.6170