This book grew out of a conference on Education and the Labour Market held at Lancaster University in April 1987. This collection of essays is composed of some of the papers given at the conference and others added later covering the historical aspects of the subject. The contributors suggest that by looking at the history of technical education in this country it may be possible to suggest the role it has played in economic and social development and its limitations. They examine aspects of the development of technical education as it occurred at different times and in various institutional and non-institutional forms since the 1850s. The book examines three broad assumptions about British technical education: that it has been deficient; that its inadequacy is one of the keys to Britain's relative economic decline; and that its redirection is an appropriate task for the state to undertake. A common theme running through the book is that official resistance to giving technical education the same status and resources as liberal education has been damaging to its development and to the status of the professional technologist. The book is intended to be of interest to educationalists, social and educational historians, political scientists, sociologists and political analysts.