The Corruption of Innovation: Rethinking the Language, Logics, and Limits of Change in Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47133/rdap2026-47art8Palabras clave:
innovation corruption, higher education transformation, Disruptive redesign, institutional renewal, AI-augmented learningResumen
Higher education has become saturated with the rhetoric of innovation. Nearly every institutional strategic plan, government policy directive, and sector report now claims to champion transformation. Yet the term “innovation” has been progressively stripped of conceptual precision. What once signalled major shifts in value creation, governance, pedagogy, or institutional design has been diluted into a descriptor for modest operational adjustments - new technologies layered onto old structures, minor modifications to assessment systems, or incremental recalibrations of delivery formats. This paper argues that the language of innovation in higher education has been corrupted, functioning primarily as a symbolic and legitimizing discourse rather than a driver of genuine institutional renewal. Drawing on organizational theory, political economy, disruptive innovation literature, and contemporary analyses of AI-enabled learning futures, the paper develops a typology distinguishing incremental adjustment, adaptive modernization, architectural reform, and disruptive redesign. It demonstrates why most institutions remain structurally bound to incrementalism and how this constraint undermines system-level responsiveness to profound technological, demographic, and economic shifts. The conclusion outlines pathways for restoring conceptual clarity and enabling authentic transformation aligned with public value, ecosystem thinking, and the emerging realities of AI-augmented learning.
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