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A new social construction of skill
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Warhurst, Christopher, Tilly, Chris and Gatta, Mary (2017) A new social construction of skill. In: Warhurst, Christopher and Mayhew, K. and Finegold, D. and Buchanan, J., (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Skills and Training. Oxford handbooks. . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199655366
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Official URL: https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfor...
Abstract
There are a number of theoretical positions that inform analyses of skill. One such position is the social construction of skill. When it was first proposed it was driven by feminist concerns about the sex-typing of jobs and women’s exclusion from jobs labelled as skilled. This chapter offers a new social construction of skill. It appreciates that the old social construction of skill has not disappeared but points out that the context within which this construction occurred has changed, with weaker labour unions and the decline in the manufacturing industries. With more service jobs and stronger employers, the chapter argues that in the wealthier countries there have been two shifts: a shift in how skill has been defined and a shift in who has the power to define it. Focusing on gender, race and class, the chapters explains how the social construction of skill has been restructured in three ways. First, more importance is attached to ascription of skill. Second, who is and isn’t deemed to be skilled has changed. Third, the lines between achieved and ascribed skill are increasingly blurred. The chapter finishes by suggesting ways in which the discrimination arising from this new social construction of skill might be addressed.
Item Type: | Book Item | ||||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor | ||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Institute for Employment Research | ||||||
Series Name: | Oxford handbooks. | ||||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||||
Place of Publication: | Oxford | ||||||
ISBN: | 9780199655366 | ||||||
Book Title: | Oxford Handbook of Skills and Training | ||||||
Editor: | Warhurst, Christopher and Mayhew, K. and Finegold, D. and Buchanan, J. | ||||||
Official Date: | February 2017 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Number of Pages: | 737 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199655366.013.4 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 2 December 2020 | ||||||
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