ABSTRACT

An assumption which underpins most contemporary discussions about the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations is that they are heavily dependent upon the quality of human resources (McGregor 1960, Ginzberg 1966). The significance attached to education as a source of organizational efficiency results from the perceived need for more technical, professional, and managerial workers in an increasingly competitive global economy (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 1989; Confederation of British Industry [CBI] 1989). However, for the last twenty years the education system has been treated by conservative politicians and industrialists with increasing suspicion, as the promise of continuous economic growth and low unemployment has proved untenable since the early 1970s. Rather like the talented student who under-achieves due to “laziness”, the education system at all levels has been subject to reprimand and reform (Jones 1989). Higher education has not escaped the critical gaze of New Right critics and has also been subject to a programme of “marketization” (see Chapter 3).