Abstract
REFERENCE is made in the annual report to the Court of Governors of the University of Birmingham, presented by Sir Charles Grant Robertson (vice-chancellor,) on February 20, to the critic isms of Miss Fry, at the recent Annual Conference of Educational Associations: (a) that in the ratio of number of university students to population Great Britain attains only to the fifth place among the European nations; (b) that there does not exist a single university department in Great Britain dealing with causes, incidence and treatment of crime; and (c) that too large a percentage of university graduates go down almost ignorant of the structure of society and its claims upon them. As to these criticisms, the Vice-Chancellor says that “unless the community can annually and suitably absorb the output of the Universities, an increase in the number of university students will defeat the purpose for which it is made. . . . What is needed even more than a knowledge of the existing social structure is the power to amend it and strengthen its capacity to absorb the trained mind . . . ignorance of the structure of society is not confined to graduates; it is shared by a huge percentage of the community, including the House of Lords at one end and the recipients of Public Assistance at the other”. He quotes with approval Miss Fry as reported in The Times of December 31, 1935: “In the local service there was too little bringing in of generally well educated people in the early twenties, as in the State Civil Service. The attitude of local authorities seemed rather paradoxical. By the award of scholarships they encouraged their ablest scholars to carry on their education till they were too old to have a chance of entering the service of the authorities.” Inter-departmental committees in Whitehall have investigated the situation and made valuable recommendations but nothing has been done to open up a real road from the universities to the local and municipal services other than that long enjoyed by the technicians, for example, medical men or engineers.
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The Universities, Social Sciences and Local Government. Nature 137, 354–355 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137354c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137354c0