The Societal Effects of Higher Education

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 10. Historical Trends and Policy Issues in Higher Education

Abstract

Tertiary education is commonly seen as a source of progress, usually defined in economic terms. We explore the broader transformative effects of higher education on society. Classically, higher education was centered on the professions, and later evolved into a system for training national elites and the primary institutional infrastructure for modern science. As a result, higher education has consequences far beyond the economy. Empirically, tertiary education has modest positive effects in models of economic growth, but is very strongly associated with reorganization of the economy around the service sector. More generally, higher education encourages massive increases in societal rationalization. The state is transformed along rational-legal lines, becoming increasingly bureaucratic, transparent, and organized. Individuals are integrated into the public sphere and connected to a variety of complex organizations, goals, and purposes. As a result, tertiary education foments social-political change, for instance propelling major societal movements around issues such as human rights and environmental protection. These general points are illustrated using cross-national longitudinal data, analyzed using panel regression models with fixed effects.

Authors

• Evan Schofer, University of California-Irvine

• Francisco O. Ramirez, Stanford University

• John W. Meyer, Stanford University