HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT: CHANGING CONDITIONS FOR DIVERSIFIED STRUCTURES OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The article begins with an overview of the history of the importance given by European systems of higher education to the twin questions of the proper structures of higher education and the link between higher education and employment. From the mid‐1950's to the present, the debates on the two questions have sometimes been closely linked and sometimes barely linked at all. The point is that the link between increased employment and higher education is very complex and that signals are unclear. There is no proof, for instance, that over the long‐term, graduates of non‐university higher education institutions will be better protected against unemployment than graduates of traditional universities, particularly those from non‐traditional and diversified programmes within these universities. Still a non‐hierarchical diversity of institutions and programmes seems best suited to the long‐term employment prospects of students. Also, information sources on higher education and employment must be made more accurate and more comprehensive.