Numero speciale "Elites, engagement et formation en Europe méridionale au XXe siècle" 1969’s Italy witnessed the creation of two contractual frameworks that eventually would stir up the entire Italian enterprising system: “a sole management for workers-and-employees” and the “150 hours”, that is to say a yearly right for everyone working in an enterprise to study at the employer’s expense. The upward mobility and a possibility to move from manual to intellectual work, guaranteed by the “sole management”, are in strict relation to the opportunities for cultural and professional growth given by the enforcement of the “150 hours” to all workers, even the least qualified.