Over the last two decades, increasing participation rates in post-secondary education in many countries have been accompanied by decreases in aggregate economic growth and raising social tensions. It is obvious now that education does not ‘automatically’ produce more well-being (at least, if conventionally measured through income or gross domestic product) either for the individual or for society. This puts the question about education’s ‘utility’ in a new light, especially in relation to funding, which is central to the policymaking process. We briefly review literature on various rationales for supporting education and analyze existing evidences concerning the effects or consequences for societies of such investments in education and its related expansion. We outline two alternative agendas for positioning education in the framework of broader socioeconomic development. These agendas stem from different answers to the core question: can education drive the change in other spheres of societal life, or does it only respond to and follow the logics of larger institutional transformations? We suggest greater recognition in policy and public debates of the possible contribution that education may have to shaping transformative agency, and outline related prospects and potential pitfalls.

在过去的二十年里，许多国家高等教育参与率的提高伴随着总体经济增长的下降和社会紧张局势的加剧。现在很明显，教育不会“自动”为个人或社会带来更多的福祉（至少，如果按照传统的收入或国内生产总值来衡量的话）。这使有关教育“效用”的问题有了新的认识，尤其是在资金方面，这是决策过程的核心。我们简要回顾了有关支持教育的各种理由的文献，并分析了有关此类教育投资及其相关扩展对社会的影响或后果的现有证据。我们概述了将教育置于更广泛的社会经济发展框架中的两个备选议程。这些议程源于对核心问题的不同回答：教育能否推动社会生活其他领域的变革，还是仅仅回应并遵循更大的制度变革的逻辑？我们建议在政策和公共辩论中更多地承认教育可能对塑造变革机构的贡献，并概述相关的前景和潜在的陷阱。或者它只是回应并遵循更大的制度变革的逻辑？我们建议在政策和公共辩论中更多地承认教育可能对塑造变革机构的贡献，并概述相关的前景和潜在的陷阱。或者它只是回应并遵循更大的制度变革的逻辑？我们建议在政策和公共辩论中更多地承认教育可能对塑造变革机构的贡献，并概述相关的前景和潜在的陷阱。