A reflection on the complicated relationship between education and work

Abstract

In the last ten or perhaps fifteen years, driven by the phenomenon of world globalization and dynamic scientific and technological change - with the consequent demand for national economies to be more competitive - governments, academics and researchers have rekindled reflection (I would say debate) on the role that education should play in society; in other words, on the relationship that should be established between the education system and the employer sector, and more broadly with society.
This relationship has been a long-standing concern that has occupied the interest of researchers, academics and governments and that, even today, continues to provoke strong controversy. The economics and sociology of education in all its aspects have devoted several decades to the study of this relationship, especially with regard to the evaluation of the social and private returns to education and the relationship between education and economic growth.