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The Transformation of Higher Education in Ireland, 1945–80

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Higher Education in Ireland

Abstract

The Irish higher education (HE) system has undergone a far-reaching transformation over the past half a century, driven in part by changing social and cultural norms but primarily by government intervention linked to the dominant national priority of economic development. The origins of far-reaching policy change can be traced to the period immediately follow- ing the Second World War, when a small, ‘elite’ Irish HE system struggled to cope with the consequences of long-term official neglect of third-level education, combined with the first indications of increasing social demand. A dramatic change in government policy towards higher education, com- bined with the impact of increased participation in the second-level sector, stimulated a long-term transformation of higher education in the 30-year period from the 1950s to the 1980s. The sea change in HE policy early in this period was driven by changing attitudes among domestic politi- cal elites, linked to the influence of international ideas mediated through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Government policies focused on quantitative expansion of participation, coupled with a far-reaching diversification at system, institutional and sub- ject levels to meet perceived economic requirements for a more highly skilled workforce and accommodate increasing social demand for third-level educa- tion (Æ Buachalla, 1984, pp. 165–7; Clancy, 1989 in Mulcahy and O’Sullivan, pp. 99–150).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

    John Walsh (Ussher Lecturer in Higher Education)

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  1. John Walsh
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

    Andrew Loxley , Aidan Seery (Director of Research) & John Walsh (Ussher Lecturer in Higher Education),  (Director of Research) &  (Ussher Lecturer in Higher Education)

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© 2014 John Walsh

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Walsh, J. (2014). The Transformation of Higher Education in Ireland, 1945–80. In: Loxley, A., Seery, A., Walsh, J. (eds) Higher Education in Ireland. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137289889_2

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