This book analyzes Great Britain's higher education system in a state of sustained and extensive transition. It is based on interviews with 80 academic staff members and 55 graduate students across six disciplines (economics, history, physics, sociology, modern languages, and biochemistry) in 16 institutions of higher education. Over the 6 years of data collection, a number of significant shifts occurred at the central level of government and research councils and had their counterparts in changes of attitude and practice at the institutional and departmental level. The book begins with an analysis and critique of macro policies for research and of structures for the provision of graduate education. This is followed by an exploration of how those policies are modified and transformed by the stage at which they reach the micro level. An epistemological analysis of research in different disciplines and its impact on research education then leads to an exploration of the experiences of graduate students themselves and of the often unintended effects of new policy requirements. A review of career expectations and opportunities precedes a final consideration of the conditions needed to develop more satisfactory policies for the provision of graduate education. Appendixes contain brief profiles of the departments involved in the research and a key to the informants quoted in the text. Contains approximately 125 references. (JDD)