Universities and the construction of a new generation gap

Universities today operate as institutions where a specific set of ‘21st century’ skills and values are promoted. This is particularly the case with first-generation university students, where the attempt to move students away from the influence of their background is made explicit. One assumption here is that the role of the university should be to distance students from the norms, expectations, knowledge, and experiences of older generations – both inside and outside the academy. This paper investigates the extent to which the focus on skills and values disrupts the generational transfer of knowledge in favour of training to meet present-day economic and political imperatives.