International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE) Vol. 12, No. 4, December 2023, pp. 1944~1953 ISSN: 2252-8822, DOI: 10.11591/ijere.v12i4.24694  1944 Journal homepage: http://ijere.iaescore.com Voices of English education department teachers on traces of neoliberal ideology in the ‘Kampus Merdeka’ concept Endro Dwi Hatmanto 1 , Bambang Widi Pratolo 2 , Eko Purwanti 1 1 English Education Department, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2 Master Program of English Language Education, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Jun 13, 2022 Revised Feb 9, 2023 Accepted Mar 10, 2023 Neoliberal ideology’s influence on higher education has been a concern for researchers on a global scale. Indonesian researchers have also examined the practice of neoliberalism in higher education. However, they only focused on the managerial dimension and there is a dearth of literature on the influence of neoliberalism ideology on educational policy. This study intends to close a gap in earlier studies by investigating the ideological remnants of Neoliberalism in the notion of ‘Kampus Merdeka’ or Emancipated Learning as perceived by 12 lecturers at English Education Department in Yogyakarta. This study employed a qualitative approach through the use of semi-structured interviews. The study found that university and departmental missions were aligned with industry demands; the curriculum was driven by industry; the teaching and learning process was determined by the market; the Tridharma of Higher Education was extended to industry; little emphasis was placed on moral and religious values; curriculum “vocationalization” was emphasized; collaboration with industry was focused; academic commodification and consumerism increased; and academic commodification and consumerism accelerated. The findings added to a new existing theme, that is increased collaboration with industry. Moral and religious values must be incorporated into the curriculum, as they are absent in ‘Kampus Merdeka’ paradigm. Keywords: Curriculum in higher education Emancipated learning Industries Neoliberalism ideology Vocationalization of curriculum This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Bambang Widi Pratolo Master Program of English Language Education, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan Campus 2 Pramuka Street 42, Sidikan, Umbulharjo, Yogyakarta 55161, Indonesia Email: bambang.pratolo@pbi.uad.ac.id 1. INTRODUCTION The issue of neoliberal ideology in higher education has received a global interest among researchers and practitioners in the field of education. The topics have become the global attention in research works including the neoliberal ideology in the univer sities’ vision statements [1]; the neoliberal ideology and skills agenda in higher education [2], neoliberalism in English teaching materials [3] and neoliberal ideology in public higher education [4]. These researchers have established the importance of investigating the influence of neoliberalism in higher education institution. With the limitation of the research within the Indonesian context, the theme on the practice of neoliberalism ideology in higher education is worthy of further study. The research of neoliberal ideology within the context of Indonesian higher education has been explored by several researchers. For example, there is an influence of the neoliberalism in good university government [5]. Several researchers have investigated the implication of neoliberal ideology on the lecturers’ [6], while the neoliberalism within the field of psychology has been done in Indonesian higher education [7].