Tertiary Education and Labour Market: Towards Ontological Inequality

The study of educational reality and the interrelationship of the sphere of education and the labour market began to occupy one of the principal places in the analysis of social structure and social stratification. The gap between the sphere of education and the labour market reveals a serious discrepancy in the interaction between people and fundamental social institutions, and the gap between the requirements of the real economy and the actual knowledge and competencies of employees is deepening.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the so-called fourth industrial revolution will lead to an increase in the disproportionate professional structure of the population. By all accounts, a time comes when people need to be educated to cope not with one job for their whole lives but with a series of jobs that require different skills and abilities, or even to switch between different jobs fast and easily. What role higher education can play in these processes? What are the educational strategies of different groups of population? What are the new patterns of interaction with the education and the labour market?

The inclusion of the context of the technological development in the investigated problems will allow one to come up with an interpretation of the growing polarisation in a society that will result in the division of those who accept the changes and those who are not ready for them. More generally, the designated frame leads to inequalities that go beyond social inequality - towards ontological inequality.

Preliminary results of the project «Horizontal professional mobility and educational strategies of the population in the context of the technological development of the Russian Federation (sociological analysis)» (RSF, 17-78-10204) are going to be reported at the session.