ABSTRACT
My premise is that the institution of higher education is ripe for redesign. Postsecondary education is the key to progress toward greater social-economic equality. However, the funding for research and development for economic and health policy dwarfs the financial support for research on higher education. It should receive much more sustained attention by a much larger number of researchers and policymakers. I will suggest that the introduction of the principles of Pasteur’s Quadrant is the path to undertake for the redesign program on higher education. This study presents more specific recommendations about the research strategy to follow and what issues to tackle. This analysis is a case study of what I will argue is the central institution we have to improve: the direction of social and economic change ahead. Pasteur’s Quadrant in Higher Education asks:
Whether higher education is receiving sufficient attention due to the importance observers place on human capital today (Becker, 1993);
Whether sufficient attention is given to the reality that higher education is now the principal source of increased social-economic equality for individuals but is also the main impediment to greater social-economic equality;
Whether there is consensus that the problems the higher education sector faces add up to a case for reform and significant redesign.
