ABSTRACT
By 1993, some 374200 employees (1.8 per cent of the workforce) were directly employed in higher education in Britain, which is more than are employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing combined (Census of Employment 1993).1 The traditional caricature, nevertheless, is one of ‘town and gown’ in which university ivory towers are only loosely connected with their localities. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate critically whether this is indeed the case. To do this, and as in previous chapters, the character of this sector and its geographical distribution in Britain will be examined, and then its direct, indirect and intangible local economic impacts will be analysed. This will reveal that universities, which comprise the major component of the higher education sector, are not detached institutions which bestow little on their surrounding areas but, instead, contribute both directly and indirectly to the vitality and viability of their localities. However, for their contributions to local economic development to be strengthened, the final section argues that changes are required in both the external and internal operating environments of universities. The chapter concludes by out-lining these necessary alterations.
