College Students View Clerical Work: Issues in the Social Construction of Skill

Authors

  • Jane Gaskell University of British Columbia
  • Ted Riecken University of Victoria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/jet.v22i3.44234

Abstract

The level of skill that is attributed to a job is of enormous consequence for the political power, the income and the status of the workers who perform it. More skilled jobs attract more public respect and allow the people who perform them to demand better working conditions and higher rewards. Definitions of the skill level of a job, while purporting to be neutral descriptions of its character, in fact serve to justify its status and pay level, and to legitimize, or challenge the structure of inequality that exists in the workplace.

Published

2018-05-16

Issue

Section

Articles