How élite?

Abstract

Certain types of university, denominated as ‘élite’—Oxford is certainly an example—are often thought to have a structural or cultural capacity to imbue their members with a particular social or moral mission, or ideology. History is also a factor, insofar as the age of a university, which usually produces a lengthy relationship with other kinds of élite institutions, provides it with symbolic and material advantages unavailable to more recent and less well‐known foundations. The advantages are real, and can be documented, but a broader understanding of the evolution of élite institutions leaves some open questions as to how much influence an élite university actually possesses and how much the institutional imprint may be the result of ultimate as well as proximate causes. Moreover, academic aims and objectives change, so that the shaping influences of one generation may no longer exist in another. The seven personalities whose lives are discussed in this volume provide a chance to examine some of the issues associated with the education of élites.