The growth and crisis of Italian higher education during the 1960s and 1970s

The expansion of the Italian university system in the 1960s and 1970s is described with particular reference to the laws of 1961 and 1969 which liberalized access. The effects of these reforms are discussed and it is argued that despite the expansion the system remains an élite system. Admission to prestigious faculties and failure rates are correlated with social class to show that selection by failure within the university may to some extent have replaced selection at entry as a way of maintaining an élite system. Despite the increase in wastage there is a growing mismatch between the demand for and supply of graduate labour and this has given rise to social tensions.