The recent syntheses of research on training at work or the education-work relationship have underlined the difficulty of defining their boundaries (Tanguy 1986; Jobert et al. 1995; Raffe 1995). Different themes demarcate the domain including professional integration, training (educational policy, institutional framework and training programmes) and qualifications. The analytical treatment of the subject is also different in Germany, Great Britain and Italy, because each country experiences specific economic circumstances and institutional modalities particular to their respective education systems (Jobert, Marry and Tanguy 1995). Our approach confirms these diagnostics from another direction.