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@article{202621,
        author = {J. Madegowda},
        title = {Commerce Education and the State: Policy Attention, Neglect, and Structural Contradictions},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {12},
        pages = {7999-8023},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=202621},
        abstract = {Commerce education holds a paradoxical position in the contemporary systems of higher education, especially in India, where it is simultaneously widely enrolled and unevenly represented in terms of policy discourse. Although it is central to underpinning employability and economic activity, it is peripheral in terms of articulating a policy statement and theoretical growth. This study explores the connection between the state and commerce education by analyzing it in terms of policy attention, neglect and structural contradictions and how visibility exists alongside marginalization.
This research is a qualitative and theory-focused one with the foundation of a systematic study of policy documents, institutional frameworks, and secondary sources. It is based on the global policy discourses shaped by organizations like OECD, UNESCO, and the World Bank, with special reference to India, especially in the light of the National Education Policy 2020 and the regulatory frameworks established by the University Grants Commission. Based on lessons learned from the agenda-setting theory and policy neglect frameworks, this study examines how commerce education is framed, prioritised, and often neglected in policy-making discourses.
The findings of the study show that commerce education is also marked by the selective policy visibility without corresponding depth, where employability rhetoric often masks weak academic foundations and limited curricular innovation. At the international level, commerce education is often subsumed within broader business education, diluting its disciplinary character. In India, growth has been experienced despite a disproportionate investment in research capacity, faculty development or systemic curriculum reform. This leads to a situation of what can be referred to as instrumental neglect, where the discipline is valued economically, but not developed as an academic discipline.
The study also establishes five structural contradictions within state policy: massification vs. quality, employability vs. academic depth, standardization vs. institutional autonomy, globalism vs. localism, and vocationalization vs. academic identity. These contradictions demonstrate a policy environment that is influenced by conflicting priorities and governance logics.
This study contributes by constructing a state-centred conceptual framework for understanding disciplinary positioning in higher education and provides a critical policy approach towards commerce education. It advocates for a more logical and well-balanced policy that integrates expansion with intellectual and disciplinary recognition.},
        keywords = {Commerce Education; Curriculum; Employability; Higher Education; India; Policy Neglect; State Policy; Structural Contradictions},
        month = {May},
        }