In this article Ricky Gee discusses two collaborative projects that he has facilitated with students (now graduates) to explore their understanding of career from philosophical, sociological and political dimensions. The projects span the social sciences with contributions from youth justice and sociology undergraduate students. Both projects, which informed embedded curricular input, provided opportunity for students to place their own careers under academic scrutiny, to inform a critical understanding of the contours of the contemporary precarious labour market, how aspects of identity interrelate with societal structures and may influence career trajectory, so as to provide critical insight for the students to navigate their future careers, individually and collectively.
The career studies literature has seen a recent social justice turn, highlighting how the labour market has been influenced by neoliberal policy since the latter stages of the 20th century and into the 21st. The neoliberal influence promotes the vista of the entrepreneurial individual, whilst espousing a rhetoric of meritocracy to contribute to a nation’s economic growth.
This new turn highlights how such rhetoric has resulted in a vast gap between the rich and the poor, not only in the rich global north but across the globe more generally. This turn, from a micro individual career point of view, brings into question how much agency individuals have in the precarious labour market as factors such as class, gender, ethnicity are bigger predictors of one’s position in the labour market than their career aspirations. This recent turn, though Ken Roberts has written about such mechanisms of restraint for some time, provides excellent insights into inequality and theoretically considers the social and economic mechanisms involved, which includes the imperatives of the employability agenda which is paramount within higher education institutions, influenced by human capital theory in concert with the neoliberal way.
Exploring career and employability
The intent of the two projects reflected upon is to provide insight into how undergraduates experience ‘employability’ and how this can be done via a critical approach. This approach is influenced via Phil McCash’s career researcher approach, where the student is placed in the position of researcher to analyse their own career aided by career development theory. For these projects the students were introduced to an array of not only career development theory but sociological theory also. The students were to write reflective accounts of how they view ‘career’, to acknowledge its complexity and how it is immersed in capitalistic and colonial discourses, to be introduced to more critical views to aid understanding. They were also provided with opportunity to critically analyse the labour market to see how it is organised across class, gender and ethnic lines, to consider how they will navigate this uneven complex and precarious terrain.
The publications I am promoting here provide an opportunity to make the student voice apparent in the literature, to demonstrate how the classroom can be a space for co-construction of knowledge, to hear the stories, though academic, of the students and how they understand, view and anticipate career enactment, their own career development. It also provides opportunity to have an insight into such an underrepresented voice, to inform the literature to influence policy and future practice.
I provide some examples here of how well the participants engage with this pedagogical and research project. The participates demonstrate well the importance of a critical approach to employability to understand the parameters of gender
Reflecting on the world of work it is clear that gendered divisions of labour have had significant influence on my career path. I am currently studying sociology and I am working toward a career in counselling which as a result of the persistence horizontal segregation is still depicted as a female career, with female counsellors outnumbering male five to one (Brown, 2017)
Or ethnicity
I am a Black female, and I am acutely aware that I may face discrimination when entering the labour market because of my racial and gender identity. McGregor-Smith (2017) highlights that discrimination occurs through every aspect of an individual’s working life, and this begins before Black people enter the labour market. […] TUC (2020) found that 31% of Black and minority ethnic women have been unequally passed over for or rejected a promotion at work, which accounts for discrimination at the workplace
And the oppressive mechanism of neoliberal society and their desire to change this.
The Marketisation of education has meant university is an investment in human capital (Becker, 1962) but […] ‘employers may well feel that graduates are no longer exceptionally smart’ (Roberts, 2020, p.34). To combat this, it is imperative that I continue enhancing my employability, whilst maintaining a critical perspective to the neoliberal promotion of meritocracy and individual homo oeconomicus (Foucault, 2004): the assumption we are entrepreneurs of the self. […] I will actively encourage equality AND equity for those who are disadvantaged due to their societal status, aiding progression for those who haven’t experienced the privilege I have. Within wider discourse, the impact of unions must not go unnoticed as a way to collectively combat precarity within neoliberal society.
It is evident that the students enjoy and gain from this experience to influence future career navigation with critical insights
Completing my studies within the sociology of work and career, I have considered my future career in depth. This involved considering my current trajectory towards a job within the law enforcement sector. Career trajectory is understood by Inkson (2014) as an individual’s future path towards a career based upon influential factors such as family background, social class and gender. I have considered how my gender, being female, could push me towards more caring job roles following my sociology degree (Hussein et al., 2013). Similarly, my trajectory could point towards lower-ranked jobs because women are most frequently within the lowest rank in policing and is a male-dominated profession (Home Office, 2019). To effectively navigate towards my desired role within the police and ensure success in the field, I aim to complete a Masters in International Law Enforcement
It is hoped that such publications become a catalyst for other researchers and pedagogues to continue co-constructions of knowledge to embellish the career studies field.
Please use the links for the publications described
Critical Perspectives on Career and Career Guidance (COCAG) 