Halsey Charges English Colleges Form Hierarchy

"English society--and universities in particular--are inexplicable without reference to their feudal past," declared Albert Halsey, Lecturer on Sociology, University of Birmingham, England.

Speaking on "English Higher Education" at the final Thursday afternoon lecture last week, Halsey said that, like the feudal croplands, the English undergraduate sows during his first year, lies fallow the second and plows in the last.

In analyzing the social and economic background of English education, Halsey observed that "productivity is the leading deity of industrial society," and that "the goddess requires increasingly great sacrifice."

Under these conditions, Halsey continued, higher education in England has assured three major characteristics. First "the balance is much more heavily weighted toward the humanities than in the United States." Secondly, the training is exclusive: the students are a tiny privileged minority group." Thirdly, the universities form a "hierarchy of prestige, reflective of the class system of the country."

Illustrating the final characteristic statistically, Halsey showed that approximately one-tenth of the children of unskilled workers attend universities.

Quoting a recent monograph describing a so-called "meritocracy," Halsey stated that in light of current trends in education, the twenty-first century will find "the intelligence test more important than the birth certificate."

In conclusion, Halsey warned against seeking technological supremacy through education. "A society worshiping productivity," he said, "converts its colleges into technological schools for industrial expansion." Furthermore, he added, "the never-ending search for technology will subvert civilization."