Abstract
The creation of the French university institutes of technology (IUTs) in 1966 is characteristic of attempts by a number of industrialized nations to establish institutions of higher education better adapted than the traditional university to new cohorts of post-secondary students. The IUTs provide intensive short-cycle programs to train middle-level personnel in technical and administrative fields. Although the courses are designed as terminal, over one-third of IUT graduates go on to higher education, including a disproportionate number of students from lower social strata. Their staff are drawn from the universities, technical secondary education and the professions. Administratively, the IUTs occupy an uneasy position partly connected with the universities and partly under direct ministerial authority; there is substantial involvement on the part of representatives of employers and trade unions as well. Despite this ambivalence of function and status, the IUTs are now well established as a modestly successful innovation. They represent a major aspect of the attempt by French policy-makers to introduce more effective methods of instruction and evaluation into the universities and to render them more responsive to the needs of the society and the economy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Actes du Colloque National sur l'Education (1974). Paris, 21–23 November 1973, Vol. 1. Paris: Documentation Française.
Bernard, M.-Y. (1970). Les Instituts Universitaires de Technologie. Paris: Dunod.
Bize, P. (1973). “Rapport à Monsieur le Ministre de l'Education Nationale sur les départements ‘Administration des collectivités publiques et des entreprises’ et ‘Techniques de commercialisation’ des I.U.T. après six années de fonctionnement.” Mimeo.
Boussard, I. (1974). “La participation des étudiants aux élections universitaires en France (1970–1973),” Revue Française de Science Politique, 24: 940–965.
Bulletin de SNESup (1973). July–August, 1973.
CEREQ—Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications (1973). L'Accès à la Vie Professionelle à la Sortie des Instituts Universitaires de Technologie. Paris: Documentation Française.
Chalendar, J. de (1970). Une Loi pour l'Université. Avec le Manuscrit Inédit d'Edgar Faure. Paris: Desclée De Brouwer.
Commission de l'Education Nationale (1971). Rapport. (Commissariat général du Plan. Préparation du VI Plan.) Paris: Documentation Française.
Crozier, M. (1970). La Société Bloquée. Paris: Editions du Seuil
Le Figaro (1975). 29 September, 1975.
Fomerand, J. (1975). “Policy Formulation and Change in Gaullist France: The 1968 Orientation Act of Higher Education.” Ph.D. dissertation, City University of New York, N.Y. Unpublished.
Fomerand, J. (1975). “Policy Formulation and Change in Gaullist France: the 1968 Orientation Act of Higher Education,” Comparative Politics, 8: 59–89.
Grignon, C., and J. C. Passeron (1970). Innovation in Higher Education: French Experience Before 1968. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Journal Officiel (1972). Enseignement Supérieur: Loi d'Orientation et Textes d'Application. Paris: Journaux Officiels.
Ministère de l'Education Nationale (1966). Tableaux de l'Education Nationale. Edition 1966. Paris: Service Central des Statistiques et de la Conjoncture.
Ministère de l'Education Nationale (1973 a). Note d'Information (22 June), No. 73-24.
Ministère de l'Education Nationale (1973 b). Note d'Information (19 October), No. 73-35.
Ministère de l'Education Nationale (1973 c). Statistiques des Enseignements: Tableaux et Informations. Nos. 16 and 17 (Ch 5, parts 1 and 2).
Ministère de l'Education Nationale (1974). Tableaux de l'Education Nationale. Edition 1974. Paris: Statistiques et Sondages.
Ministère de l'Education (1974). Note d'Information (29 November), No. 74-39
Ministère de l'Education (1975). Note d'Information (7 March), No. 75-09.
OECD (1973). Short-Cycle Higher Education: A Search for Identity. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Orivel, F (1975). “Facts and words: The ambiguities of the French university system,” Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, 1–5 September, 1975.
Pompidou, G. (1967). In: Journal Officiel: Assemblée Nationale, Débats (1 June), 1524–1525.
Pratt, J., and T. Burgess (1974). Polytechnics: A Report. London: Pitman Publishing.
Schriewer, J. (1972). Die Französischen Universitäten 1945–1968: Probleme - Diskussionen - Reformen. Bad Heilbrunn/Obb.: Julius Klinkhardt.
Scott, P. (1975). Strategies for Postsecondary Education. London: Croom Helm.
Suleiman, E. N. (1974). Politics, Power and Bureaucracy in France: The Administrative Elite. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Tarrow, S. (1974). “Local constraints on regional reform: A comparison of Italy and France.” Comparative Politics, 7: 1–36.
Van de Graaff, J. H. (1977) “France: Administrative centralism.” In: J. Van de Graaff, ed., Academic Power: Evolving Patterns In Seven National Systems, to be published.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van De Graaff, J.H. The politics of innovation in French higher education: The university institutes of technology. High Educ 5, 189–210 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158489
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158489