Education, Demography and Youth: Training, Education and Europe

SUMMARY

Education has been criticized from a variety of quarters in recent years, particularly by politicians, organizations and the general public. However, it remains conspicuous by its absence from the work undertaken in relation to organizations. This paper shows, first, how education is related to the internal functioning of organizations, illustrating how organizations have displaced the problems associated with training on to education. Second, the paper examines the main influences or barriers to education: (a) used to train minds to think logically and laterally to acquire the ability to synthesize, analyse, invent and assimilate information and (b) as a means of social advancement–in particular the political, cultural and technological pressures on future employees and the education system to provide the organization with ‘adequate’ workers for the new flexible production methods being adopted. This is complemented by a tempered analysis of the recent calls for the wholesale adoption of education policies promulgated in the rest of Europe.