I sure would like to have a stronger sense than I do of what the
reality here is. I think Laura's absolutely right to be skeptical
of the Boyer/OECD figures (and all the others I know of). But it has
been my impression (denied by the occasional statistician) that
"participation rates" in Canadian universities and colleges have
traditionally and consistently been lower than those in the US, and
that they have risen over the last third of the century. That's just
an impression, though.
The problem, of course, is that the terms are undefined. College,
university, and participation are all words that means wildly
different things in different situations, and depending on what axe
you happen to be grinding.
> My only point here is that we have an elite system of post-
> secondary education in Canada despite the high participation rates.
Yes. My suspicion (voiced before) is that it has to do with being a
lot more English than the Americans -- whatever I think about the
relative level of participation rates.
> Getting back to what we were talking about, what this means about
> the need for Rhetoric and Composition courses I'm not sure! But
> the lack of such courses in Canada is not the result of a failure
> to respond to a more "democratic" era in university education.
Hm. I'm not sure I follow all those negatives, Laura . . . it
strikes me that whether or not there is in fact a "more democratic"
era, Canadian universities haven't responded to it. Whether FY Comp
is a reasonable response to such a democratization is still another
question . . . but I do think, in the States, it _was_ such a
response (Mina Shaughnessy, call your office).
-- Russ
__|~_
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St. Thomas University )_ __)_|_)__ __) PHONE: (506) 452-0424
Fredericton, New Brunswick | )____) | FAX: (506) 450-9615
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