Research on national systems of education helps explain the U.S. pattern of schooling. Three interrelated factors continue to shape the present transformation of U.S. higher education: the centrality of status competition, the lack of centralized political authority over schooling, and the loose connection between education and the economy. (SM)

A discussion of new financing models for Spain's public universities first looks at recent institutional changes; the evolution of the university system over the last decade in terms of student, financial, and human resources; its situation within the international context; student demand; graduate output; and labor market demand for graduates.…

Explores the contours of the current policy debate in Germany over higher education reform and the issues it raises for an anthropological understanding of higher education in late capitalist societies. Argues that reform proposals aim at the rehierarchization of higher education and utilizes a case study to illustrate the implications of…

In this article we analyse the role given to education and training by policy-makers in France and Britain from 1980 onwards, in relation to their overall chosen economic (and social) strategies, and highlight conjunctions between education, exchange-rate regimes, and the level of economic openness. Britain opted for a monetarist route against…

The authors of this article contend that most doctoral students in the arts do not fully appreciate the meaning of their PhD, and that the current system of graduate education perpetuates this phenomenon, with each generation of professors passing down their understanding of the doctorate to succeeding generations. The authors argue that what is…

Deterioration in the competence of both students and faculty members constitutes a threat to effectiveness as higher education is caught is a period of contraction and limited expansion. (Author/LBH)

Trends in the enrollments and finances of American colleges and universities are described. As the demography of the student body has changed, enrollments have remained constant. The history and development of higher education is discussed in the context of leadership and market influences. Universities will have more important roles the future.…

Special education in Great Britain is expanding, as part of a restructuring of the education-training system to deal with many young people who are unable or unwilling to participate in normal education. The whole concept of special needs has become part of a rhetoric that serves little educational purpose. (Author/RM)

Participants in the Conference on Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) represented 13 countries from Central and Eastern Europe, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, European Union (EU) countries, European Commission, and European Training Foundation. The conference aimed to increase awareness among policymakers and social partners on CVT's…

In this interview, Donald L. Bitzer, the inventor of the PLATO instructional software system, speculates on the ways in which the computer will affect human society in the near future, with special emphasis on the impact of computers on the labor force, on education, and on family life. (Author/JL)

Despite rapid growth of educational enrollments in response to labor market demands for educated workers, there remains a shortage of full-time jobs and a gap between real wage growth and changing educational quality of the workforce. It is possible that a better educated workforce can make only limited contributions to economic growth or that…

Describes beliefs about economic failure and its remedies that during the 1980s became the consensus view among the political and business establishments and illustrates the degree to which business was given control over education and training policy. Compares these recent developments to the concerns and actions that occurred in the 19th…

This article describes the course and causes of the expansion of higher education in the UK since the 1960s. The number of university students from modest social backgrounds has increased, but they comprise much the same proportion of the university population as they did 40 years ago. Though personal rates of return from higher education are…

This paper presents Center for Law and Social Policy's (CLASP's) recommendations on how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) could better address the workforce challenges faced by this country. CLASP is a nonprofit organization engaged in research, analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy on a range of issues affecting low-income families. The…

During the early Nineties the proportion of UK graduates doubled over a very short period of time. This paper investigates the effect of the expansion on early labour market attainment, focusing on over-education. We define over-education by combining occupation codes and a self-reported measure for the appropriateness of the match between…