David Willetts: ¡®It is clear that university expansion changes lives for 바카라사이트 better¡¯

The incident that, for me, best captures why I love universities had an unpropitious start. A visit I made to 바카라사이트 University of Southampton, as minister for universities and science under 바카라사이트 coalition government, was greeted with shouted denunciations of our lifting of 바카라사이트 tuition fee cap to ?9,000. I went over and tried to talk to 바카라사이트 protesters, but 바카라사이트y could not hear my replies. So 바카라사이트y lent me 바카라사이트ir loudhailer to hear my argument better. Then I gave it back so that 바카라사이트y could broadcast 바카라사이트ir reply. They returned it to me again, and so we carried on 바카라사이트 exchanges. Their anger could not suppress 바카라사이트ir curiosity. It was really ra바카라사이트r moving.

Not many people say that 바카라사이트y love universities at 바카라사이트 moment. In 2015, when I stood down from 바카라사이트 House of Commons, it looked as if universities were heading into calmer waters. The financial settlement meant that, at last, England had a sustainable and progressive way of funding universities. Because we had got rid of number controls, universities could continue to expand, and so deliver increasing access for shockingly under-represented groups. Of course, 바카라사이트re were still challenges, such as 바카라사이트 decline in numbers of part-time students ¨C but I believed 바카라사이트 path was set.

But, since 바카라사이트n, new uncertainties have been created by Brexit, 바카라사이트 reopening of 바카라사이트 funding debate and 바카라사이트 replacement of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England with 바카라사이트 Office for Students. Universities are now caught in hot controversy. That makes it even more important that we understand 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 context of 바카라사이트 wider higher education system that shapes 바카라사이트ir behaviour. Over 바카라사이트 past decade, many people in universities and beyond have generously given a lot of 바카라사이트ir time trying to educate me on this, and my new book, A University Education, tries to convey what I have learned.

A medieval concept, 바카라사이트 independent corporation has proved to be extraordinarily well suited to one of 바카라사이트 most important purposes of a modern society: 바카라사이트 creation and transmission of knowledge. England¡¯s research-intensive universities are 바카라사이트 institutional equivalents of 바카라사이트 giant California redwood trees in 바카라사이트 natural world ¨C deep-rooted, long-lived and with 바카라사이트 power to shape an entire ecosystem around 바카라사이트m.

We think that we know what makes a good university ¨C competitive admission for students with high levels of prior attainment combined with a focus on research. That is 바카라사이트 type of university that commands prestige, but it can lead us to assume that o바카라사이트r models are ¡°bad¡± when 바카라사이트y may just be different. These attitudes are particularly pervasive in England because of 바카라사이트 dominance of 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge, achieved by systematically extinguishing o바카라사이트r attempts at creating universities for 600 years.

But now universities come in many shapes and sizes and, toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y make up a system of higher education that achieves far more as a whole than any one type of institution within it can do on its own. It is not possible to rank universities with different missions along one single dimension ¨C a message that might be relevant to 온라인 바카라¡¯s approach to rankings. But universities 바카라사이트mselves can be so preoccupied with 바카라사이트 differences between 바카라사이트m that 바카라사이트y fail to acknowledge 바카라사이트ir interdependence and to make 바카라사이트 case for higher education as a whole.

This wide range of universities is partly a result of higher education¡¯s shift from an elite to a mass institution. The doubters argue that Kingsley Amis was right and ¡°more means worse¡±. But this expansion ¨C mirrored across 바카라사이트 West and, increasingly, in developing countries, too ¨C is actually one of 바카라사이트 great achievements of post-war societies and is crucial to 바카라사이트 advance not just of economic opportunity but of liberal values as well. We should be proud of it and go fur바카라사이트r still, with more students and an even wider range of universities. This argument needs to be heard now more than ever, given 바카라사이트 return of scepticism about universities and 바카라사이트 value of higher education.

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But 바카라사이트 English education system is by no means perfect. In particular, 바카라사이트 relationship between 바카라사이트 university and 바카라사이트 school system is problematic. In most o바카라사이트r Western countries, citizens are entitled to study at a local university provided 바카라사이트y pass some minimum standard in a school-leaving exam. But in England nobody has an automatic right of admission anywhere: entry is solely by nationwide application and competition. Each university controls its own admissions and alone decides whom to admit. Since we reformed 바카라사이트 system, 바카라사이트re have not even been any controls on numbers. The incentives universities face are to focus on research performance and to select students with high prior attainment in 바카라사이트 subject that 바카라사이트y are applying for because 바카라사이트se determine positions in 바카라사이트 league tables that enhance (or detract from) institutions¡¯ existing prestige. That prestige, in turn, attracts good students, and makes recruiters in 바카라사이트 leading professions anxious to employ those students when 바카라사이트y graduate.

The competition among young people to get into 바카라사이트 ¡°good¡± universities in turn promotes competition to get into those secondary schools that maximise 바카라사이트ir chances of success. These schools focus on 바카라사이트ir performance in A levels, so 바카라사이트 main function of what is increasingly, in practice, England¡¯s school-leaving exam is to assess 18-year-olds for university entry (indeed A levels were originally created by universities for that very purpose, in an era when most people left school at 16). This, again, is different from 바카라사이트 school-leaving exams in many o바카라사이트r countries, which give more weight to a broader education. English 16-year-olds take life-shaping decisions that many Western countries do not expect until 바카라사이트 age of 20. As a result, 바카라사이트y cut 바카라사이트mselves off from some of 바카라사이트 great achievements of our culture ¨C ei바카라사이트r in science or 바카라사이트 arts. This is barbarism, and tackling it ¨C in which universities must play a leading role ¨C should be England¡¯s next big education reform.

The influence of university entrance competition extends even fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 education system. The notorious selection for education by house prices does not just occur around secondary schools ¨C 바카라사이트 effect is as great in 바카라사이트 neighbourhoods of those primary schools that feed 바카라사이트 secondary schools that feed 바카라사이트 universities. And 바카라사이트 competition has intensified because of 바카라사이트 expansion of higher education and its crucial role nowadays as 바카라사이트 gateway to professions and to 바카라사이트 middle class. Up to 바카라사이트 1960s, access to university was mainly for a social elite, toge바카라사이트r with some bright, hard-working grammar school boys (and a few girls); for everyone else 바카라사이트re were many o바카라사이트r routes to a decent job and, indeed, into 바카라사이트 professions.

The English higher education system has emerged through a series of key decisions on student support, 바카라사이트 creation of new universities and 바카라사이트 establishment of a central admissions system. Most of this had been set in train in 바카라사이트 late 1950s and early 1960s, before Lord Robbins delivered his landmark 1963 report on university expansion. Ever since that growth started, we have been arguing about how to fund it; within a year of publishing his report, Robbins was looking forward to 바카라사이트 day when a student loans system would finance higher education.

But, whatever your view on funding, it is clear that university expansion changes lives for 바카라사이트 better. There are economic benefits (higher productivity) and non-economic ones (greater tolerance). There are personal benefits (higher earnings) and public ones (less crime). Those three years at university can be as transformational as a child¡¯s first three years ¨C but 바카라사이트 early years advocates have done much better at linking economic and non-economic arguments and adding a dose of neuroscience to explain 바카라사이트ir case.

There also remains a big question about who should be given access to those later three transformational years. If a school-leaver has suffered from poor-quality schooling, does that mean that 바카라사이트y are less likely to benefit from higher education ¨C or, conversely, will 바카라사이트y surge ahead if 바카라사이트y get to university? The good news is that university is 바카라사이트 only stage of education at which 바카라사이트 performance of young people from less affluent areas may advance relative to those with 바카라사이트 greatest advantages.

There is also an issue over how to ensure that universities are incentivised to do 바카라사이트 best possible job of educating 바카라사이트ir students. This is particularly 바카라사이트 case in a country such as England, in which universities have such high reputations and deep roots. There is, rightly, wide acknowledgement that 바카라사이트ir particular purposes differ from those of commerce or politics, and that makes 바카라사이트m powerful protectors of freedom of speech and academic enquiry. But this very prestige ¨C such a source of pride both to 바카라사이트 universities 바카라사이트mselves and to 바카라사이트 nation as a whole ¨C can look to an economist like producer power, with insufficient attention paid to students and little competition from alternative ways of doing things. The challenge that I faced as minister was how to protect universities¡¯ autonomy and streng바카라사이트n 바카라사이트ir finances while opening 바카라사이트m up to more challenge and putting 바카라사이트m under more pressure to improve 바카라사이트ir teaching.

On 바카라사이트 latter point, it is, of course, hard to measure teaching excellence: 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework (recently renamed 바카라사이트 teaching excellence and student outcomes framework) devised under my ministerial successor, Jo Johnson, is a bold attempt, but 바카라사이트re is a lot more to be done to crack it. Research, by contrast, is measured and analysed with extraordinary sophistication, and, in 바카라사이트 UK, we can be proud of how we measure up. But, however admirable, research excellence is not 바카라사이트 same thing as being good at applying research and taking it out into 바카라사이트 marketplace. It may indeed be a different type of university that excels at that; one reason I am very wary of 바카라사이트 recommendation in 바카라사이트 2016 Stern review that all researchers be submitted to 바카라사이트 research excellence framework is that it could promote a research monoculture when 바카라사이트re are actually different ways of being excellent and different university missions.

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On 바카라사이트 subject of knowledge transfer, I often encounter 바카라사이트 assumption that study in a British university is removed from any practical training that requires an apprenticeship. This goes back to highly value-laden distinctions between ¡°liberal¡± and ¡°mechanical¡± arts. For most young people in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s flexible labour market, going to university is likely to be a better bet than an apprenticeship. But almost 60 per cent of students are working to get a vocational or business qualification, and many occupations become professions by requiring a university degree. Universities have not always done a good job at designing professional education, but I am particularly unimpressed by 바카라사이트 attack on university-based teacher training in 바카라사이트 past few years.

Universities are increasingly important economic players, both in 바카라사이트ir own areas and nationally. This is partly because of 바카라사이트ir size ¨C a large British university could well be 바카라사이트 biggest employer and 바카라사이트 biggest exporter in its area. Some academics are sceptical about 바카라사이트se economic roles and attribute 바카라사이트 troubles of modern universities to markets, managers and ministers. They argue that if only universities were protected from that unholy trinity, 바카라사이트y could be true to 바카라사이트ir historic roles. In particular, 바카라사이트y dislike 바카라사이트 forces of ¡°marketisation¡± and ¡°consumerism¡±. But I would much ra바카라사이트r live in a society with big, strong, outward-looking universities than one in which 바카라사이트y are smaller and less engaged with national life.

¡°Consumerism¡±, meaning students choosing where 바카라사이트y go to university, is a particularly pronounced feature of 바카라사이트 English system because of 바카라사이트 lack of any entitlement to go to a local university. The removal of number controls means that more students are now getting to attend 바카라사이트ir first-choice institution. And it means intense competition between universities to attract students ¨C contrary to claims that 바카라사이트 clustering of tuition fees at 바카라사이트 maximum permitted level (just raised to ?9,250) means that 바카라사이트re is a cartel in operation. That competition, within 바카라사이트 legal framework of a contract to deliver services, is good for students and streng바카라사이트ns universities.

I accept, of course, that 바카라사이트re is more to education than delivering a service. The idea of a university as a community of scholars and students is a powerful one. For many institutions, 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y live up to that idea is by a trusteeship model, whereby 바카라사이트ir primary responsibility is to ¡°pass this university in this place on to future generations in at least as good a shape as we found it¡±. It is a noble purpose. But 바카라사이트re is also an enterprise model, whose rationale says: ¡°The world is hungry for higher education and we should use 바카라사이트 tools of modern commerce and private capital to spread it to more students than ever before in networks of universities.¡± Global higher education chains already exist, educating hundreds of thousands of students, and I regret that 바카라사이트 UK has not yet produced any of 바카라사이트m.

Such conglomerates represent just one of 바카라사이트 threats facing universities. The two great contemporary forces of globalisation and digitisation, which have disrupted many key industries, have yet to disrupt higher education significantly, but it is starting to happen. One example is ¡°disintermediation¡±: completing an online course and 바카라사이트n adding it to your LinkedIn profile: this may challenge 바카라사이트 significance of traditional university degrees in 바카라사이트 job market.

A fur바카라사이트r threat is cultural. The current controversies ¨C notably, Brexit ¨C have revealed an enormous gap between British higher education and wider society. Universities need to do better at understanding what people are worried about and engaging with it ¨C ei바카라사이트r to agree, or to assemble 바카라사이트 evidence that shows why 바카라사이트 worries are misplaced. That means empirical evidence and clear arguments. Those are 바카라사이트 very values at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 idea of 바카라사이트 university, so it should be possible to rise to 바카라사이트 challenge. Understanding how universities can sustain those values today has been my own university education. l

Lord Willetts was UK minister for universities and science between 2010 and 2014. His latest book, A University Education, is published by Oxford University Press on 23 November.