The engineering classes

Nick Ford
Lund University

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Higher education evolved significantly during the twentieth century, shifting from an elite institution to a channel for mass education. This transition encompassed multiple features, including changes in purpose, curriculum structure, student motivations, and admissions criteria. While the features of elite and mass education systems vary, less explored is the relationship between these features, and whether changes in one dimension trigger changes in another.

Established in 1829, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) represented a new type of educational institution, targeting skills distinct from classical universities. From its inception, DTU’s focus was the applied natural sciences, and over time would become a leading institute for engineering education.

For much of the nineteenth century, DTU produced relatively few graduates. Over its first 50 years, just over 300 students graduated from DTU — commonly with less than 10 graduates per year. However, two key changes at DTU toward the end of the nineteenth century coincided with a substantial shift in graduation patterns.

First, in 1890, DTU moved into a new campus, providing substantially more space and improved teaching facilities. Second, in 1894, DTU restructured its courses, in large part to better respond to the skill needs of industry. Different fields were affected to differing degrees: civil engineering faced relatively limited changes, while mechanical engineering was overhauled.

This paper examines the growth of DTU during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exploring whether its expansion contributed to increased access to higher education beyond elite families. How did increased capacity and improved educational quality at DTU during the 1890’s influence access to education and the academic performance of graduates?

The analysis draws on biographies of 3879 graduates from DTU during its first century. The data capture information on graduates’ backgrounds (when and where they were born, and who their parents were), their educational pathways, and their final examination grades at DTU.

Despite a significant increase in graduate numbers, combined with a rising demand for technical skills in the context of industrialisation, I find that DTU remained a largely elite institution over the full period I examine. The opening of the new campus and the reorganisation of courses were associated with shifts in relative enrolments between study programmes, but did not lead to a more diverse student body. Furthermore, graduates’ academic performance — captured by grades — was not significantly affected by their household background: differences between graduates in terms of their fathers’ occupational status were not reflected in differences in grades (either before or after the 1890’s changes).

My research fills a gap in the existing literature on the transition from elite to mass higher education, providing an individual-level analysis of students and their studies during a period of rapid expansion in graduate totals. By employing rich, quantitative data, I contribute a detailed examination of the students themselves: who they were, what they studied, and how they performed in those studies.