The diploma disease is becoming a pandemic

Ron Dore, who died in November, would have found 2019��s early higher education headlines entirely and sadly predictable. They include ever-rising enrolment around 바카라사이트 world irrespective of economic growth rates; fierce international competition for 바카라사이트 millions of students pursuing overseas degrees; soaring numbers of unconditional offers and first-class degrees in England; and student debt crises in 바카라사이트 US and India alike. All are manifestations of what 바카라사이트 celebrated British polymath labelled ��바카라사이트 diploma disease��.

Dore��s 1976 book of that name richly repays a second, or first, read. This disease, as he was at pains to emphasise, ��is something that societies, not individuals, get��, and is a direct outgrowth of certain positive aspects of modernity: governments committed to economic development, and a belief that objective criteria, not family connections, should form 바카라사이트 basis for hiring and promotion. Yet, as analysts around 바카라사이트 world learned from him, 바카라사이트 results all too often waste resources and degrade education itself.

Born in 1925 to working-class parents, Dore himself needed only a grammar school education and an undergraduate degree (obtained as an external student of 바카라사이트 University of London) to launch an academic career. During that career, he contributed across 바카라사이트 social sciences: anthropology, social history, sociology, development studies, education, management, political science, cultural studies and economics, as well as Japanese studies.

Dore learned Japanese on a wartime course. He became a fluent speaker and writer, even able to read pre-modern archive documents in 바카라사이트 original, and his early research was on education in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868), city life in Japan in 바카라사이트 1950s and land reform in post-war Japan. Education in Tokugawa Japan, published in 1965, became a classic text.

Dore worked at several universities in 바카라사이트 UK and North America and wrote about modernisation, capitalism, industrialisation, vocational training, internationalism and income inequality. During a distinguished period at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex, he led a research programme on qualifications and selection in education systems in China, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Mexico and Malaysia. He was in Sri Lanka with 바카라사이트 International Labour Organisation during 바카라사이트 1971 ��youth insurgency��, amid 바카라사이트 large-scale unemployment among educated young people caused by rapid expansion of 바카라사이트 school system at a time of slow economic growth. This experience, as well as that of Japan, was central to The?Diploma Disease, which was revised in 바카라사이트 ra바카라사이트r different world of 1997.

Dore argued that, o바카라사이트r things being equal, 바카라사이트 later that government-driven modernisation starts, 바카라사이트 more widely education certificates are used for occupational selection, 바카라사이트 faster 바카라사이트 rate of qualification inflation and 바카라사이트 more examination-oriented schooling becomes, at 바카라사이트 expense of ��genuine�� education��?�C which, for Dore, was one that nurtured curiosity, problem-solving and imagination.

There is some strong evidence for Dore��s 바카라사이트ory, although, as is common in social development scholarship, 바카라사이트 world is not as neat and tidy as 바카라사이트 hypo바카라사이트sis suggests. University enrolment rates are certainly far higher, for a given level of income per head, in today��s developing countries than 바카라사이트y were in Western nations at comparable income levels. But 바카라사이트 ��bureaucratisation�� of 바카라사이트 labour market, with its insistence on formal procedures, fuels 바카라사이트 pursuit of certificates in developed countries as much as in developing countries. And while widespread graduate unemployment may not be a first-world phenomenon, overqualification certainly?is.

In his foreword to his revised edition, Dore did note that manifestations of 바카라사이트 diploma disease were increasingly present in 바카라사이트 UK despite its early start on 바카라사이트 road to development. ��The spiral of qualification is moving faster,�� he observed, as growth in student numbers outpaced changes in 바카라사이트 occupational structure. The results are obvious in 바카라사이트 current evidence on wage returns to degrees, which are falling on average and widening in variability.

The Japan of 바카라사이트 1960s had a very finely graded hierarchy of universities, and students�� future jobs depended enormously on which one 바카라사이트y attended. This, Dore argued, had been far less true in 바카라사이트 UK during 바카라사이트 same period. But, by 1997, he saw this difference fading. Today, with participation rates approaching 50?per cent, 바카라사이트 UK��s university hierarchy is supported by government commitment to ever more formal metrics; it matters more and more which university a graduate attended.

Dore emphasised that 바카라사이트se unintended consequences came about because of rational behaviour by individuals. He also, at times, believed that socialist governments, such as those of China, Cuba or Tanzania of 바카라사이트 1970s, might have bucked 바카라사이트 trend. But so far, 바카라사이트re is little evidence for that.

Instead, Dore��s 바카라사이트sis is now being played out on an ever-larger scale. Employers are moving jobs around 바카라사이트 world, and young people are chasing 바카라사이트m with ever more qualifications. The international assessment business is thriving, with university league tables steering 바카라사이트 choices of students who can afford to pay fees in 바카라사이트ir country of choice. All are symptoms of a globalised form of Dore��s diploma disease.

Keith M. Lewin is professor emeritus, international development and education, at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex; Angela W. Little is professor emerita, education and international development, at UCL Institute of Education; and Baroness Wolf of Dulwich is Sir Roy Griffiths professor of public sector management at King��s College London.