Degrees, Jobs and Status in Society – the tension between Meritocracy and Equality

Presentation by: Ulrich Teichler, of the International Centre for Higher Education Research at the University of Kassel, Germany.

Abstract

The relationships between education and employment are primarily shaped in modern societies by “educational meritocracy” and additionally by three factors: (a) Reinforcement of privileges, (b) compensatory mechanisms in favour of equity, and (c) luck and opportunities for the smartest. The meritocartic links between achievement in higher education and career success are challenged by the fact that the more higher education expands the smaller differences of achievements become important for career success, thus opening the door for reinforcement of privileges or luck.

Author Biography

Professor and former director of the International Centre for Higher Education Research, University of Kassel (Germany). Born in 1942; study of sociology, Free University of Berlin; researcher, Max Planck Institute for Educational Research Berlin; doctoral dissertation on higher education in Japan. Extended research periods in Japan, the Netherlands and the U.S.; for some period professor on part-time/short-term basis at the Northwestern University (U.S.), College of Europe (Belgium), Hiroshima University (Japan), and Open University (UK). Key research areas: higher education and the world of work, comparison of higher education systems, and international mobility in higher education; more than 1,000 publications. Member of the International Academy of Education and the Academia Europaea, former chairman of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers, former president and distinguished member of EAIR; Dr. h.c. of the University of Turku (Finland).