"Why are policy makers in England and New Zealand building networks between providers of tertiary education and innovative firms, yet also attempting to destroy networks through reform of assessment practices? This book argues that answers to both questions can be found in social changes that are driving up the importance of personal and institutional network capital in some fields and in egalitarian attempts to create open competitions for advancement. This book shows that these changes are leading to a reconfiguration in the rules upon which the competition for advancement is organized through tertiary education."--BOOK JACKET.