The monograph examines British full-time adult students in the context of education and stratification systems of industrial society. It attempts to test propositions concerned with how a system of educational selection regulated the ambitions of the post-war generation, and how it inadvertently created widespread feelings of discontent. The findings of two studies are reported: (1) a 1970-72 survey of 56 male and 46 female adult students, aged 22 and over, in degree courses (examining reasons and adjustment in becoming full-time students) and 101 male and 40 female conventional entry students, aged 18-19, and (2) a 1965-66 survey of 183 males 32-40 years of age relating personal/interpersonal characteristics with patterns of mobility/non-mobility. A random sample of 1,928 adults interviewed in 1970 regarding work/leisure also was used for comparison. Data from in-depth interviews and questionnaires show how feelings of discontent are linked to the emerging interest in adult education. Adult education development is viewed as an attempt by those in power to manipulate the education system to maintain a stable social order. A separate chapter discusses women and education. Data related to adult patterns of mobility/non-mobility and examination success are appended. (Author/EA)