This question is usually reserved for clasifying profit making companies. With the lines blurring between education and business I thought it might be interesting to share my internal debate with others to hear additional thoughts and ideas.
I usually consider a product to be tangible good that is exchanged for money whereas a service is something that is intangible that is given to one person or group for money. A quick google search reveals that service can be defined as "work done by one person or group that benefits another."
To my way of thinking education does not seem to fall nicely into either category. Nothing tangible exchanges hands, other than a degree or diploma at the end, so education is not a product. Staff and faculty certainly provide a service to learners and they share their knowledge, but students must actively participate in the process for learning to actually take place. Customers buying a service from a business do not have to put forward the kind of effort, if any, that students must put into their studies to make it worthwhile.
For these reasons it seems to me that education is neither a product nor service, but a separate category altogether. Do you agree or disagree?
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For those of you following along on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn you can also read other posts at http://wepps.blogspot.com/
I would agree it is a difficult to place Higher Ed in those terms.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion would be that it is neither a product nor service.
In 'The University in the 1990s: Crisis of Predicament?' Sibley points to a time when Students were wards - Jr members being initiated into the community of learning.
The ward or charge is a powerful descriptor for students compared to the corporate-influenced language such as client more prominent in the mass system of Higher Ed.
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