The paper examines the relationship between university and society from an approach based on instrumental education and civic education. It is argued that the university's social pertinence must address the criteria that its contributions seek to foster, such as social justice and democracy. Restricted to the aspect of teaching, under the conceptual framework of instrumental education and citizen education, the text suggests that it is not up to the university to promote an instrumental education focused on student's adaptation to the social and economic reality, but to shape autonomous, critical and reflexive citizens who are socially competent.
university; social pertinence; instrumental education; citizen education; subjectivity