This paper is based on the proposition that secondary vocational education represents an area of untapped potential for social investment in the Croatian context; in a sense of considerable »returns« in the form of desirable economic and social outcomes. The proposition is supported by three sets of arguments. Firstly, the paper proceeds to present an obsolete institutional framework of Croatian secondary (vocational) education which has remained in place since Croatian independence, despite failing to produce satisfactory economic and social outcomes. Secondly, the paper puts forward an analysis of interactions between key actors in the field of secondary vocational education, which results in constant »change that changes nothing«. Thirdly, analysis of developmental investments drawing on budgetary appropriations from regional governments (counties) and allocations from the European Social Fund points towards a lack of continuity and a high degree of territorial discrepancies. Based on these arguments, the author concludes that social investment in secondary vocational education in Croatia currently fails to adequately contribute towards any of its key functions: i) improving the stock of social capital; ii) facilitating flows from education to labour market, but also to full democratic citizenship and iii) protecting/buffering vulnerable groups included in the secondary vocational education. In concluding remarks, the author deliberates on necessary conditions for advancing social investment in Croatian secondary vocational education. © 2025, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb. All rights reserved.
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