The tension between education for income and education for democracy in the university

Abstract

The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum in her book Non-Profit (2010) established the risk that the world is experiencing when orienting its educational systems towards the sole objective of increasing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This type of orientation is called education for income. This education focuses exclusively on technical and professional training for efficiency in the labor market and excludes Arts and Humanities from their study plans, with the consequent risk of forming useful machines for the system, but not the citizens that the democratic societies require. As an alternative to education for income, Nussbaum establishes the need for an Education for democracy that trains sensitive people, capable of understanding the other and of valuing their own culture as part of a global intercultural fabric. This article presents the results of a research carried out among graduate students of a private university in central Mexico based on a questionnaire based on the characteristics of education for income and education for democracy proposed by Nussbaum. The perception of the subjects about what college education is and should be in their disciplines is collected. In general, there is a vision that values the elements of education for democracy, although some features are perceived, especially in what should be, that respond to the vision of education for income.