Maneuvering constellations of valuation: a critical investigation of the edtech startup sector

Publication date
2024-06-11
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Decuypere, Mathias
Joecks, Lucas
Ortegón, Carlos
Tierens, Toon
Vanermen, Lanze
Organisational unit
DOI
URI
Publisher
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Series or journal
Critical Studies in Education
ISSN
Periodical volume
66
Periodical issue
3
First page
429
Last page
448
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
✅
Language
English
Keyword
EdTech
startup sector
valuation studies
Governance
Abstract
This article provides a critical investigation of the edtech startup sector. Edtech startups are companies that are in the first stages of their operation and that seek to provide a newly developed edtech product or service to the education sector. To date, there is hardly any critical research present that seeks to disentangle what the characteristics and modes of operation of this sector are precisely. Through ethnographic research of an edtech startup summit, and by making use of a conceptual framework inspired by the field of valuation studies, the present article seeks to address that gap. Our analysis shows four interrelated constellations of valuations, namely valuations around temporality; expertise; reach; and pedagogical ideas. As we show, each constellation is characterized by various internal tensions, in which edtech startups (and startup investors) need to operate and (constantly re)maneuver themselves. This not only supports an empirical understanding of the edtech startup sector shaped by considerable complexities, contextualities, and ambiguities; it equally provides an analytical framework for nuancing contemporary edtech critique and future analysis of edtech practices.
Description
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
Version
Published version
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