KNOWLEDGE AS A PROBLEM IN THE 21ST CENTURY UNIVERSITY

Traditionally, the mission carried out by the university had to do with culture, science and the profession. Today, new forms of knowledge production and management, both inside and outside the university, raise within the framework of these three functions, at least, the fact that we are facing the need for a new knowledge society. The university has the mission of discovering, and also disseminating, new knowledge. Society, in turn, needs permanent solutions to its endless problems. How these two tense aspects relate in the present and in the future is a great unknown. Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have only reinforced this discussion. This paper aims to gather up-to-date information on the meanings of knowledge in the university environment and to identify relevant aspects and controversy that may exist on the issue. To this end, a descriptive documentary review was carried out, with an analysis through a series of categories. More than 300 documents were handled, from which 47 were selected. Among the results we highlight the fact that there are important inconsistencies and controversies that various types of knowledge generate within the university, something that affects the training curricula and the way in which the university relates to knowledge and the world.