Inequality – ‘wicked problems’, labour market outcomes and the search for silver bullets

Abstract

In recent years concerns about inequality have been growing in prominence within UK policy debates. The many causes of inequality of earnings and income are complex in their interactions and their tendency to reinforce one another. This makes inequality an intractable or 'wicked' policy problem, particularly within a contemporary context in which many of the established policy responses from previous eras are at best discussed in muted terms and more normally deemed to be unavailable. This reflects the eclipse of 'equality of outcome' models and the concomitant rise of 'equality of opportunity' as the new policy mantra from Thatcher onwards. As traditional policy responses have withered, the role of education and training as a 'silver bullet' that can address a host of economic and social challenges has come to the fore. This article outlines policy makers' beliefs that improving the educational attainment of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds can enable them to compete more effectively for elite jobs, and also that increasing the supply of educated employees can transform the level of demand for skills from employers. These beliefs are then critiqued, with reference to occupational congestion, over-qualification and the evidence that skills supply does not always create its own demand.

‘It seems at the moment my career is dependent on factors outside of my control’: reflections on graduates’ experiences of employment and career enactment in an era of economic uncertainty and austerity

“…Using Goffman's analogy one can see how the uncritical pursuit of the skills and education for employability agenda, and complementary forms of career guidance and counselling, risks encouraging students to build and maintain an attachment to an imagined, problematic career outcome, and then becomes a cooling out mechanism to draw attention away from the in-built inequalities in the labour marketplace, when the imagined object of desire is lost. (Berlant, 2011;Keep & Mayhew, 2014).…”

“…Throughout the 20 th Century, the expansion of education and careers work in schools, colleges and universities in the UK, and in other countries, was financed by governments, in the belief that it would deliver a much needed boost to the economy, and deliver social and economic returns for most people, and greater social equality. (Avis & Orr, 2016;Haywood, 2004;Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2014;Keep & Mayhew, 2014). Looking back to the period of post-war economic expansion in the 1950s and 1960s, for many, a 'job for life' with the prospect of career promotion in one, or a few, organisations was a real possibility.…”

“…Within this discourse, education is regarded as a form of knowledge capital (Tomlinson, 2008), and the 'social state' gives way to the 'enabling state' to ensure individuals have the knowledge, skills, powers and freedom to become innovative entrepreneurs in the competitive global market place. (COM, 2005;Davies & Bansel, 2007;Harris, 2007;Keep & Mayhew, 2014: Leitch Review of Skills, 2006Lyotard, 1984). To accelerate this agenda and 'drive up standards' in teaching to satisfy the needs of the 'knowledge economy', the UK Government's White Paper proposals for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), and the creation of the Office for Students (OfS), are designed to release market forces and increase competition in Higher Education, so that 'employers get the skills they need at the highest level to increase productivity in their businesses ' (DBIS, 2016).…”

Comparative Perspectives: Education and Training System Effects on Youth Transitions and Opportunities

“…Wage returns to vocational qualifi cation on the labor market tend to be relatively low (see for the UK: Greenwood, Jenkins, and Vignoles 2007 ). Where, as in the UK, there remains considerable labor market demand for low skills recruits, participants on these programs may have little incentive to raise their skills levels (Keep and Mayhew 2014 ). Furthermore, vocational programs are typically competence-based, largely oriented toward immediate labor market entry, and frequently involve very little general education or continuing study of Math and language.…”

Parenting teenagers as they grow up: Values, practices and young people’s pathways beyond school in England

“…Long run occupational restructuring has undermined the idea that children in the western world can expect higher standards of living than their parents (cf. Pew 2014) and has engendered greater precarity in vocational routes to work (Keep and Mayhew 2014). The recent increase in higher education fees and concerns about graduate employment alter the context of decision making in respect of pursuing a university education.…”