This thesis investigates how the eight state-funded New Zealand universities present themselves in the prospectuses they publish yearly. The background for this research is the fact that the universities now have to compete for students and funding monies because the government has linked the amount of funding to the number of students and the universities’ success in research (McKenzie, 1996). Additionally, student fees and private sources increasingly contribute to the universities’ budget. The entry of competition into the tertiary education sector is a result of recent policy changes that led the education sector from an egalitarian scholarly system with a tradition of open and free access for all citizens to a market-oriented education industry, which contributes considerably to the national economy. This restructuring of the tertiary education sector is part of the major social, political and economic changes that New Zealand went through – and is still going through – beginning with the Fourth Labour Government's second term of office from 1987 to 1990 (Holland & Boston, 1990). The historical background of this thesis focuses on these policy changes that influenced all areas of the public life in New Zealand in the last 25 years. The literature review established that these reforms resulted in processes of commodification of education, competitive marketisation and corporatisation of the universities (Butterworth & Tarling, 1994). The purpose of this thesis is to find evidence of these three tendencies within the language and visual presentation of the university prospectuses. The prospectuses have been chosen as the data corpus because they provide a comprehensive overview of the institutions. Moreover, they represent a hybrid genre of an advertorial text type, being partly informational, partly promotional. The data has been analysed by applying textually-oriented discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1992). Discourse analysis has been proven to be a suitable methodology as it links linguistic analysis to the broader social context. The premise of this approach was that social changes leave traces within the discourse. The data analysis confirmed the intended outcome that the tendencies of commodification, marketisation and corporatisation are visible in the present material. This concludes that the order of discourse of business has colonised the order of discourse of tertiary education.

This is a study of changes in Chinese kindergarten education in the era of the post-Mao four modernisations. Based on fieldwork carried out in China in 1997, this thesis examined the changes of Chinese kindergarten education at two levels — changes in system (structural change) and changes in educational activities (curriculum and ideological change), especially for the period of the 1990s. Changes are described and discussed in a historical context, in which both changes in policy and in practice are examined. Changes in education are closely linked to the social, political, economic and cultural context. The content, process and outcomes of reform in early childhood education in China have been affected by the national goals of reform, the social context of early educational institutions, their organizational characteristics, family structure, family policy, and the specific professional culture of teaching and learning. Recent structural reforms in early childhood education have been shaped by the foremost task of the nation - economic development. The previous welfare model of kindergarten, which was regarded as one of the outcomes of a socialist system, is being transformed into a new market competitive model to meet a political demand for the marketisation of society. The curricula of early educational program, teachers' attitudes to children, and their professional activities, therefore, have been re-shaped according to new ideas about the needs and abilities of children, new conceptions of child development and, not least, the new modernisation "knowledge" that gained ascendancy in China during the 1990s. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis investigates how the eight state-funded New Zealand universities present themselves in the prospectuses they publish yearly. The background for this research is the fact that the universities now have to compete for students and funding monies because the government has linked the amount of funding to the number of students and the universities’ success in research (McKenzie, 1996). Additionally, student fees and private sources increasingly contribute to the universities’ budget. The entry of competition into the tertiary education sector is a result of recent policy changes that led the education sector from an egalitarian scholarly system with a tradition of open and free access for all citizens to a market-oriented education industry, which contributes considerably to the national economy. This restructuring of the tertiary education sector is part of the major social, political and economic changes that New Zealand went through – and is still going through – beginning with the Fourth Labour Government's second term of office from 1987 to 1990 (Holland & Boston, 1990). The historical background of this thesis focuses on these policy changes that influenced all areas of the public life in New Zealand in the last 25 years. The literature review established that these reforms resulted in processes of commodification of education, competitive marketisation and corporatisation of the universities (Butterworth & Tarling, 1994). The purpose of this thesis is to find evidence of these three tendencies within the language and visual presentation of the university prospectuses. The prospectuses have been chosen as the data corpus because they provide a comprehensive overview of the institutions. Moreover, they represent a hybrid genre of an advertorial text type, being partly informational, partly promotional. The data has been analysed by applying textually-oriented discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1992). Discourse analysis has been proven to be a suitable methodology as it links linguistic analysis to the broader social context. The premise of this approach was that social changes leave traces within the discourse. The data analysis confirmed the intended outcome that the tendencies of commodification, marketisation and corporatisation are visible in the present material. This concludes that the order of discourse of business has colonised the order of discourse of tertiary education.

The main objective of this thesis was to examine three key questions concerning the political economy of digital broadcasting. First, the concept of digital broadcasting and its regulatory issues were investigated. Following the review of the related theories, I proposed a political economy of digital broadcasting framework as a theoretical perspective. Second, the factors influencing global digital broadcasting were examined. This research has investigated the main factors that influenced the regulatory changes and hardware and software markets around digital broadcasting at a global level. Finally, as a case study, I explore why and how the Korean government introduced digital broadcasting, setting this against the wider background of changing state-market relations. Various stakeholders have been involved in the digitisation of broadcasting at the national and global level. This process follows and forms the changing political economic configuration of the broadcasting industry of the nation-state facing neoliberal globalisation. To achieve the aims, the thesis uses archival research, questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews. I argue that the digitisation of broadcasting in South Korea has reflected the changing power relationships among state, market and. civil society in democratisation and globalisation. The consumer electronics manufacturers, telecommunication companies and the Ministry of Information and Communication have played pivotal roles in the introduction of digital broadcasting. The public broadcasters, press union and some civic organisations have played alternative roles in the process. In so doing, the role of the state has changed from one of authoritarian market formation to non-authoritarian market formation, market adjustment and coordinating different interests. The Korean state has the contradictory features of a neoliberal state, which has deregulated some areas such as broadcasting, telecommunications and financial markets, and played a role of entrepreneurial government at the same time.

The purpose of this study was to examine and analyse how the transformation taking place at the University of Dar es Salaam in the context of corporatisation addressed the challenges of access and equity as central features of national development. The study was based on the premise that widening access to and equity in higher education contributes to the development and prosperity of the nation in Tanzania. The study used a qualitative case study design. Epistemologically, the study was located within the constructivist paradigm which is premised on a social construction of reality. I used both purposive and snowball sampling techniques to select both the research site and the participants. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and an in-depth document analysis were used to collect the requisite data. The data were analysed qualitatively by developing themes using the Atlas.ti program. The findings revealed firstly that both internal and external factors had provided the impetus for the transformation of the university. The findings also indicated a strong move towards the privatisation of the university. This was evident in the outsourcing of the non-core activities of the university as well as the introduction of market-driven programmes. Secondly, the implementation of corporate strategies had both–positive and negative, planned and unplanned consequences. While the university had significantly increased its student intake, improved the efficient utilisation of its resources and diversified its sources of income, it had, nevertheless, been unable to match the increased student intake with improved teaching and learning resources as well as enhanced student support services. In addition, the influence of both donors and the organisational culture shaped and influenced the adoption and implementation of a corporate culture with regard to the management of the university. With respect to the role played by the university in national development, the adoption and implementation of the market approach was characterised by a paradigm shift from viewing the university as a social institution that serves the community to that of an institution that meets the demands of the market. Overall, the findings indicate that effective leadership, supported by a favourable policy environment, was a critical component in the realisation of the institutional transformation goals. The study suggests that a combination of both the state-controlled model and the market model in public higher education institutions should be encouraged and promoted for the purposes of equity, efficiency and effectiveness. Accordingly, this study suggests that the idea of „asymmetrical balance‟ is a strategic approach that will enable the university to mediate the contesting demands of both the national and the market imperatives. The notion of asymmetrical balance argues that the goals of national development and efficiency are not mutually exclusive and that they could potentially be mutually beneficial. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

This research concerns tensions between ‘personalisation’, a neo-liberal concept adapted by New Labour to empower and motivate students and ‘performativity’, an aspect of governance whereby institutional effectiveness is monitored by statistical outcomes. Their ambiguous reconciliation in Personalised Learning (DfES 2004a) continues to develop in schools and colleges. A research focus on Key Stage 3/4 wider curriculum choice, one of five key but under-researched elements in this policy, provides the opportunity to explore this paradox. Involving an investigation into the recent experience of 14-15 year olds in an inner city English comprehensive school, the degree of equity afforded students in decision-making, based on teacher perceptions of students as achievers and underachievers may reveal conflicting values in the management of this process. Taking an ethnographic approach to case study development, triangulation of method and source is used to test internal validity. Analysis of interview data from a range of pastoral staff provides outline images of the institutional management of student choice. A comparative statistical analysis using data from anonymous student questionnaires provides an independent account of the effects of this interpretation on the student stakeholder role. From the questionnaire sample, qualitative data from twenty student interviews offers further insight into the processing of decisions. Relying on respondent validation procedures throughout, for ethical reasons the identification of student interviewees as ‘achievers’ or ‘underachievers’ is retrospective. Demonstrating how student access to the KS4 optional curriculum operates, the research reveals power differences firstly between the student cohort and ‘gate-keeping’ pastoral staff and secondly between individual students. While some evidence of social control through self-surveillance, implied through Foucauldian criticism of neo-liberal strategies (Rose and Miller 1992) may exist, the extreme social and economic deprivation of the area is used to justify this institutional interpretation of the stakeholder role through the moral imperative of social inclusion.

Ao longo dos últimos trinta anos, entre meados das décadas de 1980 e 2010, os sistemas de saúde da Alemanha, França e Reino Unido foram reformados, gerando uma crescente mercantilização no financiamento e na prestação de serviços. O trabalho analisa as raízes dessas mudanças, assim como identifica que a mercantilização não ocorreu nem mediante os mesmos mecanismos e nem com a mesma profundidade, havendo importante inércia institucional. As diferenças observadas atestam as especificidades de cada país, em termos de seu contexto econômico, de seus arranjos políticos, das características institucionais de cada sistema e das formas que assumiram os conflitos sociais (extra e intra sistema de saúde). Os sistemas de saúde alemão, francês e britânico, enquanto sistemas públicos de ampla cobertura e integralidade, são frutos do período após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Um conjunto de fatores contribuiu para aquele momento histórico: os próprios impactos do conflito, que forjaram a ampliação na solidariedade nacional e a maior pressão por parte dos trabalhadores; a ascensão socialista na União Soviética; o maior apoio à ação e ao planejamento estatal; o forte crescimento econômico, fruto da emersão de um regime de acumulação fordista, pautado na expansão da produtividade. A acomodação do conflito capital-trabalho, neste contexto, ocorreu mediante a expansão dos salários reais e ao desenvolvimento do Estado de bem-estar social, ou seja, de políticas públicas voltadas à criação e/ou ampliação de uma rede de proteção social. No entanto, a crise econômica da década de 1970 corroeu a base de financiamento e gerou questionamentos sobre sua eficiência, em meio à transformação do regime de acumulação de fordista para financeirizado, levando à adoção de reformas constantes ao longo das décadas seguintes. Além disso, as transformações específicas do setor saúde complexificaram a situação, tendo em vista o crescente envelhecimento populacional, a demanda por cuidados mais amplos e complexos e, principalmente, os custos derivados da incorporação tecnológica. Este cenário impulsionou a implementação de uma série de alterações nesses sistemas de saúde, com destaque para a incorporação de mecanismos de mercado (como a precificação dos serviços prestados, a indução à concorrência entre prestadores de serviços), o crescimento da responsabilidade dos usuários pelo financiamento do sistema (como o aumento nos co-pagamentos e a redução na cobertura pública) e a ampliação da participação direta do setor privado na prestação dos serviços de saúde (realizando os serviços auxiliares, a gestão de hospitais públicos, comprando instituições estatais). No entanto, de forma simultânea, as reformas ampliaram o acesso e a regulamentação estatal, além da modificação na base de financiamento, principalmente na França. Isto significa que a mercantilização não foi o único direcionamento das reformas, em decorrência de dois fatores principais: a própria crise econômica expulsou parcela da população dos mecanismos pós-guerra de proteção à saúde, demandando reação estatal, e diferentes agentes sociais influenciaram nas mudanças, bloqueando ou ao menos limitando um direcionamento mercantil único. / Over the last thirty years, between mid-1980 and 2010 decades, Germany, France and the United Kingdom healthcare systems have been renovated, creating a growing marketisation in the financing and provision of services. This Thesis analyzes the roots of these changes, and identifies that marketisation did not take place or by the same mechanisms nor with the same depth, with important institutional inertia. The observed differences attest to the specificities of each country in terms of its economic context, their political arrangements, the institutional characteristics of each system and the different social conflicts (intra and extra healthcare system). The German, French and British health systems, while public systems of broad coverage and completeness, are the result of the period after the II World War. A number of factors have contributed to that historic moment: the very impact of the conflict, which forged the expansion on national solidarity and greater pressure from workers; the rise of socialism in the Soviet Union; a bigger support for action and state planning; strong economic growth, thanks to the emergence of a Fordist accumulation regime, based on the productivity expansion. The accommodation of the capital-labor conflict in this context occurred through the real wages expansion and the development of the Welfare State, ie public policies for the creation and / or expansion of a social safety net. However, the 1970s economic crisis eroded the funding base and raised questions about its effectiveness amid the transformation of Fordist accumulation regime in a finance-led one, leading to adoption of constant reforms over the next several decades. In addition, specific health sector transformation complicate the situation, given the growing population aging, the demand for broader and more complex care, and especially the costs derived from technological resources. This scenario boosted the implementation of a number of changes in the three systems, with emphasis on the incorporation of market mechanisms (such as the pricing of services, the induction of competition between service providers), the growth of the responsibility of users for funding the system (such as the increase in co-payments and the reduction in public coverage) and the expansion of the direct participation of the private sector in the provision of health services (performing ancillary services, public hospitals management, purchasing state institutions). However, simultaneously, the reforms expanded access and state regulation in addition to the change in funding base, mainly in France. This means that marketisation was not the only direction of the reforms, due to two main reasons: the very economic crisis drove portion of the population of postwar health protection mechanisms, requiring state reaction, and different actors influenced the changes, blocking or at least limiting a single market direction.

Les réformes du marché ont notamment été mises en œuvre comme une solution pour améliorer la qualité des services publics et l'efficacité depuis les années 1990. Face à l'augmentation des besoins de soins et afin de maintenir les coûts de soins à un niveau raisonnable, la Suède a également introduit la marchéisation dans le domaine des soins aux personnes âgées depuis 1992. Pourtant, l'introduction d'un mécanisme de marché dans l'État-providence fait l’objet des débats politiques et publics de plus en plus nombreux. Beaucoup sont sceptiques quant aux avantages supposés d'un marché, en termes par exemple d'amélioration de la qualité et de réduction des coûts, tels que proposées par « New Public Management ». Il y a eu également des critiques croissantes sur la rentabilité dans les services de soins ces dernières années.Après deux décennies de marchéisation, il nous paraît nécessaire de recenser les attitudes des politiciens locaux, à savoir comment ils perçoivent le rôle d'un marché ou d'un quasi-marché dans un État providence où le mécanisme du marché pourrait remettre en cause des principes traditionnels tels que l'universalisme, la solidarité et l’égalité. En dehors des études des attitudes sur le bien-être public déjà existantes, cette recherche se base aussi sur un ensemble de données d'enquête uniques construit depuis 2014 et permettra ainsi une compréhension plus profonde et actuelle sur les perspectives de marchéisation chez les politiciens.Précisément, cette étude analyse trois aspects différents de la marchéisation : la production, la réglementation et le financement. Les résultats montrent que les différences d'attitudes sont évidentes entre les politiciens de gauche et de droite à l’égard des prestataires privés à but lucratif. Les orientations politiques des individus, la majorité politique dans les municipalités et le niveau de privatisation déjà atteint localement sont repérés comme des facteurs importants qui expliquent la volonté des politiciens locaux de privatiser davantage ou non. Les différences de préférences continuent à exister entre les deux blocs, et l'idéologie politique joue un rôle majeur dans l'explication de ces différences, plus que des facteurs individuels tels que l'âge, le sexe ou la position de travail. Les réponses autodéclarées révèlent que l'idéologie politique influence la formation des attitudes.Dans une large mesure, les politiciens de gauche et de droite s'accordent sur les principes de bien-être public tels que l'universalisme et tous les deux reconnaissent les impacts potentiels que le marché pourrait avoir sur la société, dont la question de l'inégalité. Il semble plausible que le pluralisme de l'État-providence soit la direction de l'avenir.Cette étude de cas constitue un exemple solide pour examiner le développement du marché du bien-être public dans les États-providence avancés et contribue également à la discussion du rôle potentiel de l'idéologie politique dans les réformes post-austérité sur le bien-être public. / Market reforms have quite notably been used as a solution to increase the quality of public services and efficiency since the 1990s. Sweden has also introduced marketisation in the field of elderly care since 1992 to cope with increasing care needs while maintaining costs at a reasonable level. Yet, the introduction of a market mechanism in the welfare state is subject to increasing political and public debates. Many are sceptical about the purported benefits of a market, such as increased quality and reduced costs, as proposed by New Public Management. There have also been increasing critiques of the profit-making in care services in recent years.After two decades of marketisation, it is worthwhile to map out local politicians’ attitude patterns, namely, how they perceive the use of a market or quasi-market in a welfare state, where the market mechanism might challenge traditional principles such as universalism, solidarity, and equality. Complementary to studies on attitudes of public welfare, this research uses a unique survey dataset from 2014 to expand current understandings of politicians’ perspectives of marketisation.To be more specific, this study analyses three different aspects of marketisation: production, regulation, and financing. The results show that attitudinal differences between left- and right-wing politicians on private for-profit providers remain distinct. Political orientations of individuals, political majority in municipalities, and the privatisation level already achieved locally are identified as important factors in explaining local politicians’ willingness to privatise further. The preference differences continue to exist between the two blocs, and political ideology plays a major role in explaining these differences, more so than individual factors such as age, gender, or working position. Self-reported answers reveal that political ideology influences attitude formation. To a large extent, left- and right-wing politicians agree on welfare principles such as universalism, and they both recognise potential impacts that the market could have on society, such as inequality. It seems plausible that welfare state pluralism is the direction of the future.This case study serves as a solid example for examining the market development of public welfare in advanced welfare states and also contributes to the discussion of the potential role of political ideology in post-austerity welfare reforms.

Ao longo dos últimos trinta anos, entre meados das décadas de 1980 e 2010, os sistemas de saúde da Alemanha, França e Reino Unido foram reformados, gerando uma crescente mercantilização no financiamento e na prestação de serviços. O trabalho analisa as raízes dessas mudanças, assim como identifica que a mercantilização não ocorreu nem mediante os mesmos mecanismos e nem com a mesma profundidade, havendo importante inércia institucional. As diferenças observadas atestam as especificidades de cada país, em termos de seu contexto econômico, de seus arranjos políticos, das características institucionais de cada sistema e das formas que assumiram os conflitos sociais (extra e intra sistema de saúde). Os sistemas de saúde alemão, francês e britânico, enquanto sistemas públicos de ampla cobertura e integralidade, são frutos do período após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Um conjunto de fatores contribuiu para aquele momento histórico: os próprios impactos do conflito, que forjaram a ampliação na solidariedade nacional e a maior pressão por parte dos trabalhadores; a ascensão socialista na União Soviética; o maior apoio à ação e ao planejamento estatal; o forte crescimento econômico, fruto da emersão de um regime de acumulação fordista, pautado na expansão da produtividade. A acomodação do conflito capital-trabalho, neste contexto, ocorreu mediante a expansão dos salários reais e ao desenvolvimento do Estado de bem-estar social, ou seja, de políticas públicas voltadas à criação e/ou ampliação de uma rede de proteção social. No entanto, a crise econômica da década de 1970 corroeu a base de financiamento e gerou questionamentos sobre sua eficiência, em meio à transformação do regime de acumulação de fordista para financeirizado, levando à adoção de reformas constantes ao longo das décadas seguintes. Além disso, as transformações específicas do setor saúde complexificaram a situação, tendo em vista o crescente envelhecimento populacional, a demanda por cuidados mais amplos e complexos e, principalmente, os custos derivados da incorporação tecnológica. Este cenário impulsionou a implementação de uma série de alterações nesses sistemas de saúde, com destaque para a incorporação de mecanismos de mercado (como a precificação dos serviços prestados, a indução à concorrência entre prestadores de serviços), o crescimento da responsabilidade dos usuários pelo financiamento do sistema (como o aumento nos co-pagamentos e a redução na cobertura pública) e a ampliação da participação direta do setor privado na prestação dos serviços de saúde (realizando os serviços auxiliares, a gestão de hospitais públicos, comprando instituições estatais). No entanto, de forma simultânea, as reformas ampliaram o acesso e a regulamentação estatal, além da modificação na base de financiamento, principalmente na França. Isto significa que a mercantilização não foi o único direcionamento das reformas, em decorrência de dois fatores principais: a própria crise econômica expulsou parcela da população dos mecanismos pós-guerra de proteção à saúde, demandando reação estatal, e diferentes agentes sociais influenciaram nas mudanças, bloqueando ou ao menos limitando um direcionamento mercantil único. / Over the last thirty years, between mid-1980 and 2010 decades, Germany, France and the United Kingdom healthcare systems have been renovated, creating a growing marketisation in the financing and provision of services. This Thesis analyzes the roots of these changes, and identifies that marketisation did not take place or by the same mechanisms nor with the same depth, with important institutional inertia. The observed differences attest to the specificities of each country in terms of its economic context, their political arrangements, the institutional characteristics of each system and the different social conflicts (intra and extra healthcare system). The German, French and British health systems, while public systems of broad coverage and completeness, are the result of the period after the II World War. A number of factors have contributed to that historic moment: the very impact of the conflict, which forged the expansion on national solidarity and greater pressure from workers; the rise of socialism in the Soviet Union; a bigger support for action and state planning; strong economic growth, thanks to the emergence of a Fordist accumulation regime, based on the productivity expansion. The accommodation of the capital-labor conflict in this context occurred through the real wages expansion and the development of the Welfare State, ie public policies for the creation and / or expansion of a social safety net. However, the 1970s economic crisis eroded the funding base and raised questions about its effectiveness amid the transformation of Fordist accumulation regime in a finance-led one, leading to adoption of constant reforms over the next several decades. In addition, specific health sector transformation complicate the situation, given the growing population aging, the demand for broader and more complex care, and especially the costs derived from technological resources. This scenario boosted the implementation of a number of changes in the three systems, with emphasis on the incorporation of market mechanisms (such as the pricing of services, the induction of competition between service providers), the growth of the responsibility of users for funding the system (such as the increase in co-payments and the reduction in public coverage) and the expansion of the direct participation of the private sector in the provision of health services (performing ancillary services, public hospitals management, purchasing state institutions). However, simultaneously, the reforms expanded access and state regulation in addition to the change in funding base, mainly in France. This means that marketisation was not the only direction of the reforms, due to two main reasons: the very economic crisis drove portion of the population of postwar health protection mechanisms, requiring state reaction, and different actors influenced the changes, blocking or at least limiting a single market direction.

Since the 1990s in Australia, education policies have created an environment in which competition among schools has increased and parental choice of school has been encouraged. This has been coupled with practices of corporatisation, marketisation and performativity, which have led to the proliferation of a new type of independent school, which operate in the outer suburbs of large cities, target a specific niche market, and charge low cost fees. This study examines the reasons parents are making the choice to send their children to a new, non-government schools in preference to other alternatives and the role of promotional material produced by the school in that choice. The case study of one such school, The Shelbyville College, involved in-depth interviewing of parents at the College as well as a Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough) of the College's prospectus and website which act as performative tools to measure the school's effectiveness in the market. Using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural capital, the study showed that parents interviewed were choosing this type of school to increase the educational and social status and career prospects of their children as 'extraordinary children'. Through such discourses, parents as consumers of particular schooling products and their engagement with the promotional activities of the College are produced as 'good parents'. Seeking and engaging with promotional material helped remove any dissonance that may occur from a long and expensive relationship with the institution. In choosing this particular school, parents were seeking 'good Christian values' and the freedom to actively engage in their children's education. The College, through its promotional efforts, promises to build on familial habitus and inculcate valued cultural capital in order to make students more successful academically and socially than their parents. The promotional materials of the website and prospectus emphasised the co-curricular involvement in music, speech and drama and invite parents into a discourse of success through the College's educational offering which creates 'extraordinary children'. The uniform mandated by the College is another 'text' in the production of extraordinary children as outlined in the prospectus and website and is an important site for identity production. The uniform demonstrates, not only the disciplinary regime and preparation for professional dress, but also the prestige and esteem derived from the consumption of high status products such as non-government schooling. It is expected that the findings of this study will have relevance for government schools that are the primary competition for new, non-government schools and will lose funding if they continue to lose students. The study will have some implications for CEO (Catholic Education Office) schools that have traditionally provided a low-cost alternative to the government sector. Parents in the study reported choosing the new, non-government school because of differences in values, and perceptions of safety and status improvement offered by these schools. The continued success of the new, non-government schools is also likely to have broader effects on social and educational inequality in Australia through their effects on the government school sector.