Scelte scolastiche e trasformazioni economiche

Abstract

In many developed european regions, general level and traditional distribution of private demand for post-compulsory education is becoming more and more inadequate. This is true both from a point of view centered on social integrability of the youth and from one aiming at satisfying economic system needs of qualification.Nonetheless, in many countries, the average attainment among young people is increasing at a very slow pace. Despite any good advice often given to them, it seems that many teenagers and their families find it difficult to receive incentives and effective reinforcements for a higher and more lasting investment in education and training, both from the existing supply of educational services and from signals directly transmitted by the labour market.It seems necessary to try and recognize the actual reasons of such a difference between what is and what should be. One of the ways of doing so may be a thorough reconsideration, theoretical not less than empirical, of the reasons and mechanisms which lead people to educational choices, with reference to the past and to the future. This reconsideration is also a fundamental condition to be fulfilled by educational policies aiming at being adequate for present problems and effective for the different groups of people involved.The purpose of this article is to address the above topics. It is a result of a preliminary study, preparing a field work including a direct survey on educational post-compulsory choices.