Professor Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Cambridge. The Crisis of the Meritocracy: How Popular Demand (not Politicians) Made Britain into a Mass Education Society.
In looking at a synopsis of Professor Mandler’s book two numbers stood out. The first surprised me-in 1938 only 1% of a cohort attended university. The second staggered me but I will leave that for the lecture. Today well over 40% of a cohort attend university. What was the impulse that led to such a radical change?