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In the following paper certain fads and tendencies in the field of university education in Sweden will be reviewed and some original findings reported, which all seem to have a bearing on the social role of universities in modern society. In one respect the situation in Sweden is by no means unusual though it raises important questions. Measured by student enrollment or similar statistics, universities are currently growing at a rate which has no earlier parallels. Another feature is less common and therefore deserves particular attention. There is relatively little selection between the senior secondary school stage and the university stage, a large proportion of those who graduate from the former proceed to a university or a professional school of equivalent status. There is selection social and intellectual at an earlier stage; the transition from the junior secondary school, or the new comprehensive school, to the gymnasium. In the earlier part of the paper statistical and other information will be offered which is national and overall in coverage, that is to say, describes the system as a whole or major branches of it. The later part will be based on a more intensive study of a panel of students in Lund, Canada who have been interviewed or approached by a questionnaire and followed through their first university years.

This paper compares recent developments in income inequality in Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to describing cross-national variation in changes in income inequality, the paper examines different explanatory factors for these recent developments. The findings reported indicate that there is substantial cross-national variation, not only with regard to the level of inequality, but furthermore with regard to changes in inequality. The results indicate that the equalizing effect of welfare state redistribution did not decrease in all countries. By contrast, in all countries there was a universal tendency towards increased inequality in the pre-tax and transfer distribution, although the magnitude of the change differs from country to country. Even though a polarization of the earnings distribution is reported, the results still give no support to cross-national convergence with regard to income inequality during the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]