EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF THE PORTUGUESE INDUSTRIAL ELITE.

The article examines the educational levels of industrial elites and businessmen in Portugal. The statistical data that presents the level of education in Portugal shows that just 37% of the university students obtained some degree, 11% did not finish a program, 28% have secondary education and less than 10% completed their primary education. The percentage of lawyers within the industrial elite is small in the country, as is that of economists, although it is likely that a large portion of the 30% obtaining non-technical degrees may have obtained their degrees in economics or in any of the various courses in administration. It appears that, at least in Portugal, several years will yet be necessary for the establishment of a graduate school of business administration that will furnish advanced schooling in that field, although in 1965 the American Embassy in Lisbon was attempting to stir up interest in such a project. The given statistical data furnishes an adequate means of showing how the opportunity to enter the industrial elite varies in terms of educational level. The data regarding urban males with some schooling show that their opportunities to enter the elite are not as promising as those of urban and rural males considered together. In Portugal as in Spain, the educational level of the industrial elite of giant enterprises is very high and certainly can be compared favorably, in the case of Spain, with that of American industrialists.