London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a part of the University of London. Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, George Bernard Shaw, and other members of the Fabian Society founded LSE in 1895. In 1900, the school enrolled in the University of London, and in 1901 it launched its first degree programs under the university’s umbrella.(6)
Prior to 2008[7], LSE awarded degrees from the University of London before starting to award degrees under its own name. In 2022, it separated into a separate university within the University of London.(8)
The London School of Economics is situated in Central London’s London Borough of Camden and Westminster, close to the line dividing Holborn and Covent Garden. Clare Market is the historical name for the area. At LSE, there are 3,300 employees and around 11,000 students, of whom less than 70% are international.In [9]
In 2021–2022, it brought in £436.9 million, of which £35.5 million came from grants for research.(Source: ) Among all UK universities, the university has the fifth-largest endowment. Despite its name, the school is divided into 25 academic departments and institutes that carry out research and teach a variety of social sciences, both pure and practical.In [9]
Usually regarded as a component of the “golden triangle” of research universities in the southeast of England, LSE is a member of the Russell Group, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the European University Association. In addition, the LSE is a member of CIVICA, or the European University of Social Sciences, a consortium of eight European universities that concentrate on social science research.10] The institution tied with Cambridge for the third-highest grade point average in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.11]
Eighteen Nobel laureates and fifty-five former or current heads of state or government are among the LSE faculty and alumni. In 2017, LSE alumni, staff members, or former staff members received 27% (13 out of 49) of all Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economics; as a result, they made up 16% (13 out of 79) of all Nobel Memorial Prize laureates.
Faculty and alumni from LSE have also been awarded three Nobel Peace Prizes and two Nobel Prizes in Literature.In [12]13] A global census of US dollar billionaires conducted in 2014 revealed that LSE has produced the highest number of billionaires (11) among all European colleges.In [14]
History of London School of Economics
Origins
Beatrice and Sidney Webb established the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1895[15]. The school was first supported by a £20,000 donation from Henry Hunt Hutchinson’s estate[17][18]. A lawyer[17] and Fabian Society member[19][20], Hutchinson left the funds in trust to be used “towards advancing its [The Fabian Society’s] objects in any way they [the trustees] deem advisable”.20] Sidney Webb, Edward Pease, William Clark, W. S. de Mattos, and Constance Hutchinson were the five trustees.(17)
According to LSE records, the idea for the school was hatched during a breakfast meeting that Louis Flood, George Bernard Shaw, and the Webbs had on August 4, 1894.In [15]
20th century
In 1900, the school became a part of the federal University of London and was acknowledged as one of the university’s faculties of economics. The first degrees in higher education devoted to the social sciences were the BSc (Econ) and DSc (Econ) from the University of London, which were founded in 1901.21]
The school expanded quickly over the ensuing years, first relocating to 10 Adelphi Terrace, which was close by, and subsequently to Clare Market and Houghton Street. King George V laid the cornerstone of the Old Building on Houghton Street in 1920;[15] it was completed and dedicated in 1922.21]
The school’s emblem, which includes its motto and beaver mascot, was approved in February 1922[23] based on the advice of a twelve-member committee that included eight students and was tasked with conducting study on the subject.24] Rerum cognoscere causas, the Latin motto, is borrowed from Virgil’s Georgics. Professor Edwin Cannan proposed the translation, which is “to Know the Causes of Things” in English [23].In [15] The selection of the beaver emblem stemmed from its connotations with “foresight, constructiveness, and industrious behaviour”.24]
Friedrich Hayek was a 1930s and 1940s LSE professor.
In academic circles, the 1930s economic argument between the University of Cambridge and LSE is well known.
The rivalry between LSE and Cambridge academic opinion dates back to the founding of the schools, when leading economists of the day, Alfred Marshall (1842–1924), the professor of political economy at Cambridge, and Edwin Cannan (1861–1935), the professor of economics at LSE, debated about the fundamentals of economics and whether the field should be viewed as an organic whole. (Marshall took issue with LSE’s emphasis on economic history and its separate listing of pure theory.)Reference [25]
Friedrich Hayek of the LSE and Cambridge’s John Maynard Keynes were the two key participants in this discussion. Lionel Robbins, the economist of the LSE, was also deeply involved. It began as a debate over whether deflation or demand management was a better way to address the economic issues of the day, but it soon expanded to include far more expansive ideas of macroeconomics and economics.
While Hayek and Robbins adhered to the Austrian School, which promoted free trade and opposed government intervention, Keynes developed the theories that are now known as Keynesian economics, which involve the active participation of the state and public sector.(28)
The school moved from London to the University of Cambridge during World War II, taking over Peterhouse’s premises.29]
The notion of establishing a “Joint School of Administration, Economics, and Technology” between the LSE and Imperial College was considered when the decision was made in the mid-1969s to construct a modern business school within the University of London. Nevertheless, this option was not taken, and the London Business School was established as a university institution in its place.[/30]
The student union’s objection to Sir Walter Adams’ nomination as director in 1966 led to student protests. Prior to this, Adams served as principal of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The students took issue with his inaction against the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia and his collaboration with the administration of the white minority. This evolved into more extensive worries over the connections between the LSE and its governors.
These caused the school to close for 25 days in 1969 following an attempt by students to break through the school gates that ended with the apprehension of more than 30 students. Nine LSE students were among the 13 students against whom injunctions were filed. Two international students were deported, three students were finally suspended, and two staff members who were perceived to have supported the protests were sacked.[31][32][15]
Four Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences were given to LSE economists in the 1970s: in 1972, for John Hicks, a lecturer from 1926 to 1936; in 1974, for Friedrich Hayek, a lecturer from 1931 to 1950; in 1977, for James Meade, a lecturer from 1947 to 1957; and in 1979, for Arthur Lewis, a 1937 BSc Econ graduate and the first Black academic at the LSE from 1938 to 1944.In [15][34, 33]
Controversies
After matriculating one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons and receiving a £1.5 million grant to the university from his family, LSE was forced to deal with the fallout in February 2011.52]
Allegations regarding the LSE’s affiliation with the Libyan government led to the resignation of director Howard Davies.53] The former lord chief judge Harry Woolf will lead an external investigation of the school’s ties to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and the Libyan dictatorship, the LSE said in a statement, expressing “great regret” at his resignation.53]
A BBC Panorama program about North Korea in 2013 included the LSE. Undercover filmmakers captured the documentary within the harsh dictatorship while the LSE’s Grimshaw Club, a student organization, was traveling there.
The travel had been approved by senior North Korean authorities.54][55] Because a BBC journalist was pretending to be an LSE staff member, the trip garnered notice from the world press.56] There was discussion over whether, in the event that a reporter was exposed, this would have endangered the students’ lives under the oppressive dictatorship.In [57] Following the publicity, the North Korean authorities threatened the students and LSE with violence, forcing the BBC to issue an apology.In [55]
The university received payment of almost £40,000 for a “glowing report” for Camila Batmanghelidjh’s charity, Kids Company, it was disclosed in August 2015.In [58] Batmanghelidjh used the study to demonstrate that the charity was effectively run and offered good value for the money. The institution kept the funding for the study a secret.
Industrial Disputes
Numerous campus cleaners hired by Noonan Services embarked on weekly strikes in the summer of 2017, demonstrating in front of important buildings and seriously interfering with end-of-year exams.(61) Originally sparked by the wrongful termination of cleaners, the UVW union’s issue had grown to include a wide demand for basic employment rights comparable to those enjoyed by LSE’s internal staff.In [62]
Owen Jones showed up for a debate with Peter Hitchens about grammar schools, but he did not step over the picket line.[63]: In June 2018, word leaked out that 200 outsourced employees at the LSE would be given the opportunity to work for the company internally.(64)
The number of academics on fixed-term contracts climbed from 47% in 2016–2017 to 59% in 2021–2022,[65] according to data from the Higher Education Statistical Agency (internal LSE data puts the latest figure at 58.5%). Since 2014–15, there has been a surge in academic casualization at the LSE.In [66] Comparable universities including Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, and University College London all raised their permanent staffing rates in comparison to those on fixed-term contracts during this same time frame.Reference [65] Compared to LSE, Oxford had the highest percentage of casual academic work (66%), but the percentage stayed the same instead of increasing.Reference [65]
Because of this, according to HESA data, the student-to-permanent staff ratio at LSE has gotten worse and as of July 2023, it was the lowest among similar universities in the UK.Reference [65] In a study on worker well-being, the LSE UCU Branch found that 82% of the institution’s fixed-term academic employees often or constantly worry about their career prospects.In [66] In the same poll, overwork and mental health problems were identified as widespread problems among participants. Forty percent of fellows said that their teaching hours went beyond LSE’s standard teaching cap, which is one hundred hours for LSE Fellows each academic year.In [66]