Since the expansion of higher education, there has been a move, in many countries, from structures for the elite to structures for ‘mass’ or ‘universal’ applicability. The expanded systems in the UK generally differentiate institutions in terms of function, tradition, programs, and the populations they serve. The authors were concerned with diversity in the form of universities as well as the characteristics of the students who attend them. They focused on the values of teaching in higher education, by posing the question, ‘‘What is learned at university?’’ It is a good question. From the instructional side, it was unclear precisely what students wanted, what they found at school, and what they expected to achieve during their time in higher education. In this book, the authors explored these questions through the voices of students and staff, using empirical data from students in 15 different courses, at different universities across three selected subjects areas—bio-science, business studies and sociology. Their research project called SOMUL (The Social and Organizational Mediation of University Learning), was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRG) as part of its ‘‘Teaching and Learning Research Program (TLRP). The central concern of the project was with ‘social and organizational mediation of learning’ based on the assumption that differences in educational approaches mattered. They were less concerned with the simple hierarchies of institutional prestige, preferring to focus on how studies were organized, and the aspirations and lifestyles of students who attended. The project was concerned with the commonalities that existed across all institutional settings. Although the focus was on the UK, the references were based on experience and ideas developed from all over the world. The clear intention of this book was to map the possibilities in learning, and to consider some of the different answers one might find to answer the question ‘‘What is learned at university?’’ The SOMUL adopted a case study methodology and concentrated on students and graduates in these three contrasting academic subjects. It determined the combination of subjects to explore, from academic/vocational to science/non-science programs. The SOMUL research viewed learning as a function of the social composition and life experiences of the student body; its effects on various programs; as well as the organizational