Volume 2, Number 2 (Spring) 1967
Anderson, C. Arnold. 1967. "The Adaptation of Education to a Mobile Society." Journal of Human Resources 2(2):221-254.
Mr. Anderson's thesis is that the American educational system is quantitatively adequate for any demands of high-level manpower likely to be imposed during the next few decades. The qualitative disparities within the system, where not actually beneficial, are readily corrected without Herculean reform programs. The fluid and diverse processes for occupational choice by students have proved their capability for the occupational reorientations called for by changes in the economy. Accepting the efficiency criterion, the social and intellectual basis for educational selection are undergoing effective modification. Mobility, both between generations and between occupational positions, is massive and flexible. While manpower projections have appropriate uses in microanalyses, educational policy is not prudently to be based upon such projections in macro terms.
Mr. Nam agrees that a sociological perspective on manpower problems can be useful, but questions Mr. Anderson's theoretical approach. Mr. Hollister discusses the need to reduce educational flexibility to achieve the removal of unnecessary inefficiency in planning.
Mr. Anderson is Professor at the Comparative Education Center of The University of Chicago. Mr. Nam is at the Department of Sociology of The Florida State University. Mr. Hollister is with the Research and Plans Division of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
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