Higher Education and Long-Term Manpower Planning in Socialist Romania (1950-1975). An Empirical Study

• Authors: Vlad Pașca
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article sets to analyze the manpower planning approach in respect of the Romanian higher education system during communism. The arguments used intend to demonstrate that long-term planning, although commonly used in the context of demand economy, was not a reliable instrument in education. Archival research has outlined the connections and the variations between long-term ‘cadre’ plans and higher education outcomes, in an attempt to better assess the feasibility of manpower planning in a socialist economy. The empirical analysis confirms the theoretical approach used by Jan Sadlak in the 1980s, but also provides an additional outlook on the practical and conceptual limitations of centralized normative planning.

Keywords

EN

manpower planning; socialist system; higher education; professionals; prognosis

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: International Review of Social Research
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 87-96

Dates

published

2014-06-01

online

2015-05-06

Contributors

author

Vlad Pașca

• University of Bucharest, Center for Administrative, Cultural and Economic Studies

References

• Arhivele Ministerului Educației, Cercetării, Tineretului și Sportului (AMED), doss. no. 99/1957, 231/1958.
• Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale (ANIC), CC al PCR – secția Cancelarie, doss. no. 101-102/1966.
• Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale (ANIC), Președinția Consiliului de Miniștrii (PCM), doss. no. 224/1951, 659/1953, 424/1954.
• Arhivele Nationale Istorice Centrale (ANIC), CC al PCR – secția Propagandă și Agitație, doss. no. 40/1966.
• Cazan, M. and V. Pașca (2012) The general pattern of decision-making in the planning of Romanian higher education during Communism. Research report.
• Direcția Centrală de Statistică (DCS) (1966) Forța de muncă în Republica Socialistă România. Culegere de date statistice. Bucharest.
• Direcția Centrală de Statistică (DCS) (1966-1975) Situația studenților la sfârșitul anului universitar. Internal reports.
• Fulton, O., A. Gordon and G. Williams (1982) Higher Education and Manpower Planning – A comparative study of planned and market economies. Geneva: ILO.
• Kornai, J. (1992) The Socialist System. The Political Economy of Communism. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Pașca, V. (2013) ‘Territorial Expansion of Higher Education in Communist Romania (1948-1989). An Outline of Patterns and Factors’ In Dumitran, D. and Valer Moga (eds.) Economy and Society in Central and Eastern Europe. Territory, Population, Consumption. Papers of the International Conference Held in Alba Iulia, April 25th-27th, 2013, pp. 381-391. Münster and Berlin: LIT Verlag.
• Sadlak, J. (1985) ‘Comparing Higher Education Planning Approaches in Western and Eastern Europe’. European Journal of Education, 21(4):397-408.
• Sadlak, J. (1988) Planning of Higher Education in Countries with a Centrally Planned Socioeconomic System: Case Study of Poland and Romania. PhD. dissertation, Buffalo: State University of New York.
• Tănase, S. (1998) Elite și societate. Guvernarea Gheorghiu-Dej, 1948-1965. Bucharest: Humanitas.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/irsr-2014-0013