The University Experience: An Australian Study

What is the university to the 'normal' student? Is it an ivory tower, a community of scholars, the place of a liberal education? The original research incorporated in this book challenges many of the comfortable myths about tertiary education. Dr. Little conducted exhaustive interviews with 120 third-year students. He asked them why they came to university, what their parents' attitude was, whether they had non-university friends, what they expected of their lectures, whether they enjoyed their studies. Here, in their own words, are the answers. Three academic years have surprisingly little effect on the average student. He is not involved with radical or conservative student fringes. His family and friends have more impact than the academic staff. He has little informal or personal contact with his lectures and rarely wants more. He spends little time in extra-curricular activities at the university and seldom works beyond the syllabus. The university remains a static backdrop to a personal development which is a different kind for humanities and science students. This is a constructive and disturbing book.