ABSTRACT
Institutional practices that have remained unchanged for many years and have been the subject of many abortive attempts at strategic redefinition suddenly change and the issues that were fought over on a number of occasions, very soon become irrelevancies. The rapidity of social change in the circumstances described in the first two examples is consistent with the notion of strategic compliance. The understanding of socialization and social change is clearly closely linked. All students were asked their opinion on the importance of a series of factors influencing their choice of university. The process of recruiting students into departments of education varies enormously in its organization between universities. In comparing the characteristics of the newly recruited student bodies, we are therefore saying something about the character of the departments concerned. The fact that students exercise some control over the choice of university means that they do influence an important aspect of the course itself.
