The Digital Handshake: Neoliberalism and the Ethics of Educational Micro-Credentials

Abstract

This literature review systematically examines the rapid proliferation of educational micro-credentials through a critical theoretical lens, interrogating their ideological foundations in neoliberal capitalism. While proponents and policymakers often frame digital badges and nano-degrees as democratizing, flexible solutions to global skills gaps, a synthesis of contemporary scholarship reveals profound and multidimensional ethical tensions. Utilizing a reflexive thematic analysis guided by frameworks of Foucauldian governmentality, platform capitalism, and critical data studies, this review categorizes the existing literature into four central themes: the neoliberal commodification of knowledge via the unbundling of higher education; the datafication and surveillance inherent in the "digital handshake" between learners, corporate EdTech platforms, and employers; the persistent digital divides that undermine the meritocratic promise of these credentials, driving credential inflation; and the fundamental pedagogical conflict between instrumentalist skill acquisition and the emancipatory goals of critical pedagogy. The review concludes that micro-credentials, in their dominant market-aligned iterations, risk exacerbating structural inequalities, transferring the costs of workforce training onto marginalized individuals, and reducing professional identity to algorithmic metrics. Ultimately, this paper calls for a paradigm shift toward ethically grounded, institutionally governed credentialing models that prioritize holistic learner agency and critical consciousness over corporate data extraction and narrow human capital accumulation.