MARKETIZATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: SELF-PRESENTATION DISCOURSE ON A CROATIAN UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

Abstract

Since the processes of commodification and marketization have entered areas of public life in which they did not use to be present before, we decided to research communication channels used by higher education institutions to determine whether they have been influenced by these processes in their regular activities. This paper deals with the discourse of a public university in Croatia employed by it to present itself on its official website. By applying critical discourse analysis methods on the website discourse, we wanted to establish whether some instances of persuasive and promotional discourse, typical of discourse practice of those industries and institutions which depend on market trends, have entered higher education self-presentation modes since the medium and communication channels had changed from printed to digital form. Apart from that, we wanted to investigate how a university constructs its identity relative to students, what this identity is based upon, what the university foregrounds in order to attract both students and funds and how, consequently, it creates its public image. Our research and subsequent analysis have revealed that persuasive, promotional and even multisemiotic discourse purposefully aimed at attracting students is used to a considerable extent, but also the presence of interdiscursive texts structured with a view to creating an image of a university as a pleasant, attractive and amiable place to work and live in.