BOOK REVIEWS

Savez-vous qu'ils détruisent l'université?

(Did Y o u K n o w T h e y Are Destroying the University?) by Maurice T. Maschino

Paris, Hachette, 1984 I S B N : 2-01-01064-2

While recently reviewing Pierre Bourdieu's scholarly study of French higher education, " H o m o A c a d e m i c u s " (cf. Higher Education in Europe, V o l . X , N o . 1, 1985), I failed to realize that there could also be a m o r e polemical approach to the analysis of French higher education — proof that it is still a controversial issue (as it has been since the events of M a y 1968), at least for a certain intellectual and cultural elite. T h e French media relish covering any kind of juicy affair involving a c a d e m e so long as t w o firm beliefs are upheld: first, that the mass-university is a large but not useless m o n e y spender producing low quality, secondly, that the Grandes Ecoles are elitist but stand for quality a n d efficiency. Maschino, expert connoisseur of French higher education, takes a similar view, but his approach can hardly be taken as par- ticularly original. Unfortunately, the facts are there, and the author m a k e s extensive use of t h e m : too m a n y students, too few classrooms, understaffed administration, bleak career prospects for faculty — the usual hard realities for so m a n y of the world's mass universities. In particular, Maschino stigma- tizes the directors of departments, the mandarins, w h o in his eyes, symbolize the unjustifiable hierarchy of power, from the top of which they all too often abuse the prerogalives attached to their positions. Maschino is not easily satisfied:

even the trade unions have become part of the mutual back-scratching g a m e . Although the book attacks on all fronts, the author succeeds in captivating the reader's attention by m e a n s of a pleasant, witty, journalistic writing style.

Despite s o m e shortcomings, for example the author m a k e s very few con- structive proposals, this book delivers numerous refreshing, sometimes surpriz- ing, insights.

\ V . Vollmann

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L'Université: peut mieux faire (The University: can do better) by Henri Tezenas du Montcel Paris, Seuil, 1985

I S B N : 2-02-008713-8 .

French higher education, with its seven century old traditions, has not yet become the object of systematic and institutionalized academic research.

There are no specialized journals on the subject, even though one m a y find a few scholars of outstanding brilliance w h o for m a n y years have been making contributions to the understanding of the sociological aspects of French higher education. O n the other hand, the subject itself, as a result of its social impact, regularly hits the headlines of major dailies and weeklies. The media find higher education newsworthy since distinctive elements in society, possibly even a large portion of society, feel concerned about the ups and downs of French universities. Still, the system clearly needs more in the w a y of serious investi- gation and less in the w a y of panegyric or of polemic. Recent endeavours, including this book, indicate that some positive changes are taking place in French higher education studies.

For 50 months, the author has been the president of one of Paris' univer- sities (e.g. Dauphine) and has thus been able to acquire an intimate knowledge of what makes a university tick. One result is yet another project for reform, the author considering the latest one, the one promulgated b y former

education minister, Alain Savary, in 1984, as very confusing and somewhat irrelevant.

For du Montcel, the tools of modern management, particularly develop- ment strategies, the mastery of variables (human resources, programmes, budget), decentralization, administrative and quality evaluations, external audits — all of these should be the future hallmarks of university administration. Above all he wishes to have universities given more autonomy, particularly in the sense of a more selective orientation of students so as to make the best possible use of available funds, and more independence in programming curricular diversity. Efficient management should go together with some kind of insti- tutional competition which the author believes will enhance the relative value of diplomas.

Voluntarily iconoclast, du Montcel points to m a n y anomalies but succeeds in drawing up a comprehensive list of specific but far-reaching measures that would permit the universities to improve their image and to provide better services to the intellectual and economic spheres of society. His openly professed idea of employing modern management techniques based on competition, efficiency, and cost accounting with regard to the tax payers' money, might appear of little value to some observers. W h a t makes this book particularly interesting, however, is that the author has succeeded in making limited imple- mentations of his proposals at the university which he heads. If certain readers might think that the author would m a k e a good counsellor at the Ministry of

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Education, and other nihilistic spirits might applaud the slaughtering of sacred cows of which there are no doubt m a n y in traditional institutions (such as his), m a n y will approve of the refreshing complementarity of provocative thought and innovative, constructive ideas. In this context, d u Montcel's book largely merits the couple of hours required for reading it. Hopefully, it will inspire scholarly research o n the institutional and organizational development of French higher education, an undertaking without which few reforms can be undertaken.

W . Vollmann

Les Universités (The Universities) Jacques Minot (ed.)

Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1984, 357 p I S B N : 2-7013-0582-9

In January, 1984, the French parliament voted a n e w law on higher edu- cation; since then, the administration and the universities have taken steps to implement the ensuing reform measures. T h e role of the universities in France is still a subject of controversy as illustrated b y the recent sociological study of Pierre Bourdieu and the more polemical critique b y M . Maschino. Both authors have pointed to several basic, functional aspects of university life that require urgent attention if French universities are to survive.

The book under review zeroes in o n this latest attempt to reform French higher education, to give it a n e w impetus, and to stabilize inconsistent struc- tures. T h e book places the various aspects of the reform into their historical context through an insistence on the historical continuity of the French uni- versity system. T h e first chapter reviews seven centuries of academic life in France, from before the 1789 revolution u p into the V Republic. Such histor- ical references are hardly superfluous since they permit the reader to situate the current round of reforms in the long evolution of academic institutions in France. A subsequent chapter refers specifically to the consultations which took place before the reform was enacted, particularly the Jeantet committee that produced a first draft-law. It follows the course of the draft-law through the changes subsequently m a d e in it, the parliamentary debates over it, and its final adoption.

T h e succeeding chapters are detailed descriptions of the numerous disposi- tions of the law. Credit must be given to the various authors w h o contributed to the book, for having avoided the temptation to merely quote legal documents.

Nevertheless, their prose is rather difficult to digest, despite the extreme rele- vance of the dispositions of the law which are likely to reshape higher education in France. O n e learns about the n e w emphasis which is being placed o n general education during the first t w o years of study and the further development, as in the past, of study-cycles, each one delivering a diploma. Thus after only a

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two-year course, a graduate can go out, with a valid degree in hand, to look for a job. Attention is also drawn to the reorganization of doctoral studies, there now being only one doctorate, the research-value of which has been ampli- fied. Another chapter deals with the increasing importance of continuing education as organized and developed by the universities. N e w measures have also been taken to computerize the libraries and documentation centres and to give the universities the means to function as centres of scientific and tech- nical information. In this context, emphasis is placed on the growing co-opera- tion with research bodies, private or state-run, like the G N R S (Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique), with respect, in particular, to the regional needs of industry and communal bodies.

Admissions policies, student life and services, the changing structure and new roles of teaching, and other university staff members are also presented by the authors, as well as aspects of international co-operation. If the reader were to select a chapter because of its particular importance, he might turn to the one on the reorganization of the general university structure, a reorgan- ization which has given rise to strategic shifts. All in all, this book is a relevant repertory or guide for all those wishing to obtain a better understanding of the new French university reform. However, one should bear in mind that the reform in question concerns only institutions governed by the Ministry of Education. The Grandes Ecoles, for the most part, have not been affected by the new dispositions.

W . Vollmann