Polarization of the Qualification Structure of the Danish Labour Force: The Role of the Educational System in Post-War Denmark

Abstract

The article presents some major empirical results concerning the de velopment of the Danish labour force. Changes in the capacity and struc ture of the entire educational system during the past 20 years have already led to a polarization of the annual new intake of manpower to the labour market. This polarization is the combined effect of curriculum differentia tion at school and structural differentiation, together with curriculum specialization, within - especially - vocational education and vocational training activities. The present article, however, only briefly discusses this polarization of the qualification structure resulting from the relationship between the educational system and the production system. In the capitalist mode of production and in a highly-developed capitalist society- such as Denmark - the educational system is part of an aggregate steering mechanism. Educational policy is part of a state-controlled exploitation. These empirical results show some of the economically rational forms in which this exploitation has been practised in post-war Denmark.