Student Resistance to Neoliberal University Education in Pakistan

Abstract

University education in Pakistan is increasingly structured by neoliberal ideas that emphasize market efficiency, competition, and profitability. The present research explores how students experience and resist, often subtly, these dynamics within their academic environment. Based on a qualitative research design, this study relies on in-depth interviews with students at the University of Management and Technology (UMT) in Lahore. Students identified their academic experience as being heavily oriented toward grade maximization and commercial interests and often irrelevant to the social context of Pakistan. Yet, students were not passive; many students demonstrated quiet forms of resistance in everyday academic routines. These included joking about rote learning, criticizing exam-focused teaching, and choosing socially impactful career paths over highpaying corporate roles. Using James Scott’s infrapolitics and the notion of hidden transcripts, the present study interprets such understated behaviors—sarcasm, emotional withdrawal, or grassroots initiatives—as meaningful acts of resistance. Findings of the study suggest that even within the neoliberal model of education, students exercise agency and struggle for a more socially conscious and humane model of higher education. These findings point toward the imperative of engaging with the voices of students and realigning academic practices with values and needs of the larger society.