Beyond Performance. A Critical Perspective on Education in a Private College

The study investigates the importance of balanced training that integrates theory and practice to improve students’ employability, within the geographic context of north-eastern Italy and the specific case of IUSVE, a private Salesian institute. It employs a qualitative methodology (35 in-depth interviews, 4 focus groups) to examine the meanings that students, faculty, and companies attribute to two specific three-year degree programmes aimed at professionalization: Advertising & Marketing and Digital & Graphic Design. The participants reported that a general cultural background built during undergraduate studies is important, but not central. The university cultivates well-rounded individuals by foster-ing critical thinking through the exploration of disciplines beyond immediate vocational applications. Thus, the university’s social value is primarily associated with its ability to provide adequate responses to open, dynamic, and rapidly changing scenarios by educating professionals to play roles that are not merely executive. This implies that, while emphasising employability, the university should not reduce itself to responding exclusively to the needs of the corporate world but should continue to support its broader role in promoting social responsibility and developing students’ critical capabilities.