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Education fundamentally preserves and transmits culture, contributing to societal progress alongside other institutions. Historically, Western universities reinforced social stratification, primarily serving aristocratic and gentry classes, often with religious, not economic, roles; the majority of graduates became clergymen. Lower-class education focused on basic literacy and obedience. Universities acted as talent selectors but weren't initially designed for modern economic selection processes or social justice. Vocational education was resisted, even after secularization, with a focus on pure knowledge persisting in British universities until the 20th century and in American land-grant colleges until after WWI. The post-WWII era witnessed a shift, with universities becoming deeply intertwined with the economy, acting as research organizations and training institutions. Highly educated individuals are now central resources, making accessible education and talent selection crucial. Schools and universities determine achievement based on occupational roles, influencing individual life chances. In essence, universities historically served elite status differentiation, gradually assimilating lower-class students. Their increasing role in technological and social change is a relatively recent development, positioning them as foundational to a new societal type.

1 . A basic function of education is the preservation and
transmission of culture as well as social progress and
development. In this broad sense, universities
function side by side with the other social structure
institutions of government, family, economy, religion,
security and defense.
2 . Traditionally, universities in the West supported
social stratification because they were inegalitarian,
as they tended to control access to highly valued
cultural elements. Besides, they tended to preserve
the aristocratic and gentry classes. In addition, their
role had been religious, rather than economic. The
majority of their graduates became clergymen. The
university had been seen as primarily devoted to t h e
moral, physical and intellectual education of t h e
"cultivated" man, with emphasis on developing
character, service, personality and command of t h e
non-specialist appropriate to a ruling class. For t h e
lower classes, on the other hand, education was a
simple literacy heavily imbued with ideas of docility,
piety and nationalism.
3 . Schools and universities functioned as selectors and
promoters of talent. They were not designed for t h e
selection processes thrust upon them in a modern
economy by the tightening bond of schooling with
occupation, nor were they designed to act as agencies
of social justice, distributing life chances according
to the merits of individuals. In short, education in
the past had only conservative functions with n o
signs of social mobility though at times it granted t h e
educated person some social status.
4 . Moreover, vocational education was resisted in
Western universities, even long after the
abandonment of religious curricula and long after
secular universities were founded by the help of t h e
State and industrial institutions. Thus, t h e
foundation of the University of Berlin in the early
years of the 19th century, which set the tone for
much of the subsequent modernization of
universities in Europe and America, was intended
primarily to develop knowledge in the first place, a n d
train professional classes in the second place. Until
WWI, American land-grant colleges had failed t o
establish a link between higher education and
agriculture. Similarly, up to 1892 the primary
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concern of British universities was with p u r e
knowledge and pure art - independent of any
application to practice. The emergence of modern
British universities as professional institutions is
largely a 20th century phenomenon. Even i n
America, professional and technological training was
included into the universities after the foundation of
graduate schools, and not as a development of
undergraduate schools' curricula5 . However, the transition of universities from
aristocratic functions to modern functions has been
relatively recent. New functions are now discernible.
In the post WWII years, universities, both as research
organizations and as training establishments, have
been drawn more closely into the economy either
directly or through the State. Education has become
a major investment for the economy as a whole and a
major instrument of social change. The exchange of
ideas, people and contracts between university
departments and research institutes and their
counterparts in private industry and government
agencies have merged these organizations and
assimilated the life styles of their staff.
6 . Basically, the new functions of the university reflect
a new a stage in the development of the means o f
production in which highly educated men and women
have become the central resource of today's society.
The supply of such persons forms the true measure
of the society's economic, military, and even political
potential. The search for talent to man the economy
implies free access to education and the development
of selective processes. Schools, colleges a n d
universities have become the agencies through which
'achievement' is largely determined by occupational
roles, and in which the forces of achievement
compete for the determination of the life chances of
individuals.
7 . In summary, throughout the period of emerging
industrialism in the West, the principal social
function of the university has been that of status
differentiation of the elite with some assimilation of
students from the lower classes. But the progressive
assimilation of higher education since mediaeval
times has increased the potential of the universities
as sources of technological and hence of social a n d
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economic change. Stated otherwise, only recently
have they begun to occupy a place as part of t h e
foundation of a new type of society.
[Adapted from Halsey, A.H. 'The Changing Functions of Universities',
in Halsey, A.H., J. Floud and C.A. Anderson, eds, Education,
Economy and Society. New York, The Free Press