Algorithmic governmentality and student subjectivities: a critical examination of learning analytics in higher education

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Article / Journal

Author(s) / editor(s):
Hannes Hautz & Silvia Lipp

Year: 2026

Keywords: Learning analytics; subjectivation; algorithmic governmentality; Foucault; critical data studies
Language(s): English

Abstract:
This mixed qualitative study uses "algorithmic governmentality" to examine how learning analytics shape student subjectivities among 103 master's students in Austria. Findings show ambivalent responses—enthusiasm, resignation, anxiety—where analytics encourage self-regulation, reduce reflexivity, align behavior with data-driven norms, and risk reproducing educational inequalities. Yet students’ critical engagement also offers possibilities for disruption and reflexive inquiry.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2026.2618762

Post created by: Virginia Signorini

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