High school students’ views about job skills in flexible capitalism: a study in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz

Abstract

This article investigates the characteristics of the differentiated job training circuits in high schools in Caleta Olivia, province of Santa Cruz (Argentina). The students’ views about the knowledge for work that is taught in high schools located in varying degrees of urban poverty is our point of departure. Ample surveys were conducted, using the percentage of unsatisfied basic needs (UBN) of the urban schools as the selection criterion. On the one hand the results show that, the existence of transversal knowledge not associated with work is present in all schools. On the other hand, schooling networks that present unequal distributions of knowledge for the productive sector were found, showing a correspondence with the conditions of poverty in which the schools are located. This distribution of knowledge for work provided by high schools is aligned with the characteristics of the socio-labor market in the region that reflect the features of the world of work typical of a flexible capitalism.