Education’s economic function operates through personality formation, not skills

Evidence

To capture the economic import of education, we must relate its social structure to the forms of consciousness, interpersonal behavior, and personality it fosters and reinforces in students. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 214

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Teacher-rated citizenship traits are inversely related to creativity and mental flexibility. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 510; Worker mental skills are productive but not scarce, so they pay no wage premium — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 1031; Cognitive skills explain little of education’s link to economic success. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 556 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Cognitive skills explain little of education’s link to economic success. #expands (0.85) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 556
• Education aims to form autonomous citizens, not just skilled workers #corroborates (0.80) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 337