Higher Education and Middle Manpower for the 1970's

After taking a brief look at the developments and some generalized trends of the past three decades, this paper attempts to identify some of the characteristics of the decade ahead and new and emerging middle manpower occupations in the 1970's. It is the thesis of this paper that a country interested in rapid economic development should invest heavily in education for middle manpower development, in the education and training programs that will produce the technicians, the semiprofessional and paraprofessional workers, and the highly skilled workers who can move a nation ahead across a broad front of development. Future trends discussed include those in (1) natural resources, ecology, and environment; (2) population and urbanization; (3) transportation, communication, and information technology; (4) health and medical science; (5) science and engineering based industry; (6) government and the service sector of the economy; and (7) business and distribution. Manpower demands are discussed for the following areas: (1) agriculture and natural resources development; (2) business trade and distribution; (3) health and human service; (4) industry and manufacturing; and (5) science, engineering and technology. (AF)