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448 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1980)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0448 and id is 1 raw text is: PRE FACE In the 1960s most of the world's higher education systems expanded at an unprecedented rate, raising hopes of a more equitable distribution of knowl- edge and the social and economic rewards that are the expected result of attaining post-secondary certification. This growth was severely curtailed in the 1970s; as the academic profession enters the 1980s maintenance of a steady state is an optimistic forecast. Predicted are declines in enrollment, funding, and research support, accompanied by retrenchment. The sudden shift from affluence to scarcity has demoralized the academic profession; it is today without clear direction, ideology, or leadership. Although we have no blueprint for the future, no strategy of leadership, no panaceas, we offer this issue in the hope that the analytic attention of our contributors will shed some light on the problems faced by members of the higher educa- tional profession. The articles are grouped in two categories: systemic treatments of problems faced by the academic profession from a variety of national and international perspectives, and specific accounts of problems common to the professoriate-research v. teaching, tenure and the like. The first group of contributors see the roots of the present crisis in the rapid and largely un- planned expansion following World War II. Knowledge was integrated into the industrial and technological systems, and became more critical to eco- nomic development. As rewards for the generation of new knowledge in- creased, so did demands for access. Higher education was transformed from elite to mass systems, and the professoriate grew apace. As the number of faculty positions multiplied, young Ph.D.'s from uni- versities newly engaged in doctoral production gained tenure at a wide variety of colleges and universities, and socialization began to break down. Academics in the 1960s often failed to agree on common values, either pro- fessional or political. Concurrently, widespread social unrest focused on higher education. Colleges and universities were asked to act as arbiters of social issues by creating greater equality of opportunity. This pressure only increased internal dissension in the academic community. The professoriate has been thrust into prominence and has thus far been unable to meet the challenges arising from successful expansion. Funds for growth and development were not granted without strings; the profession now tries to untangle autonomy from accountability. Large increases in student enrollments have started an endless and unresolved debate over quality v. quantity. Greater numbers of faculty at a wider variety of institu- tions have caused the professoriate to ask whether it is a profession or an occupation, to be represented by traditional professorial associations or trade unions. All agree that reform is necessary, but there is little shared sense of what is to be done. These issues confront professors in many nations. Cross-cultural analysis serves to confirm the global scope of the crisis in higher education. vii

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