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Professional Power and Skill Use in the 'Knowledge Economy'
A Class Analysis
Series: - The Knowledge Economy and Education, Volume: 12
This is the first systematic analysis of the class structure of professionals. Their growing numbers, including mainly non-managerial professional employees as well as self-employed professionals, professional employers and professional managers, have been conflated in most prior studies. In this book, evidence comes from a unique series of large-scale surveys since the 1980s as well as recent comparative case studies of engineers and nurses. A primary focus is on issues of job control and skill utilization among these knowledge workers widely regarded as pivotal to the sustainability of knowledge economies. Professional employees in particular are found to face declining job control, diminishing use of their skills and increasing barriers to continuing learning. There are many original benchmarks here to serve as guides for further studies on professional classes, job design and training strategies in advanced capitalist economies.
D.W. Livingstone, Ph.D. (1971), Johns Hopkins University, is Past Canada Research Chair and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. His books include The Education-Jobs Gap (1998), Education and Jobs (2009), and Lifelong Learning in Paid and Unpaid Work (2010).
Tracey L. Adams, Ph.D. (1997), University of Toronto, is Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Her recent books include Regulating Professions (2018), and Gender, Age, and Inequality in the Professions (with M. Choroszewicz, 2019).
Peter H. Sawchuk, Ph.D. (2000), University of Toronto, is a Professor of Adult Education at the University of Toronto. His books include Contested Learning in Welfare Work (2014), and Emerging Approaches to Educational Research (2014).
Tracey L. Adams, Ph.D. (1997), University of Toronto, is Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Her recent books include Regulating Professions (2018), and Gender, Age, and Inequality in the Professions (with M. Choroszewicz, 2019).
Peter H. Sawchuk, Ph.D. (2000), University of Toronto, is a Professor of Adult Education at the University of Toronto. His books include Contested Learning in Welfare Work (2014), and Emerging Approaches to Educational Research (2014).
"To call an occupation a 'profession' hides as much as it reveals. This landmark study of professions in general and two of the most important professionsâengineering and nursingâshows that the vast majority of these knowledge-workers really are workers. Richly informed by statistics, surveys, and interviews, we see that while they need specialized knowledge and credentials, few of them work independently. Most are employees under management supervision. The resulting under-utilization of their expertise is fueling mounting class antagonism. Farewell to illusions of a 'professional-managerial class.'" â Paul S. Adler, Professor of Management and Organization, Sociology, and Environmental Studies at the University of Southern California and author of The 99 Percent Economy, and Technology and the Future of Work
"In this book, D.W. Livingstone's formidable research experience on work, education and economic change is brought to bear on the growth of professions. He and his colleagues, using both international statistics and close-focus studies of managers, engineers and nurses, give us a radical new perspective. They offer convincing proof of deep class divisions within professional worlds, and challenge the familiar rhetoric of the 'knowledge economy'. It's the kind of social science we need: carefully researched, deeply reasoned, and sharply relevant." â Raewyn Connell, Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney and author of The Good University and Southern Theory
"Essential reading for anyone interested in the future of work in the 'knowledge economy.' The book explodes common myths about the power and autonomy of professional employees, showing a loss of control long suffered by industrial workers. Bringing class analysis back, the authorsâ documentation of professional proletarianization points to a new labor struggle protecting all workers and nourishing the collective intellect of 21st century societies." â Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology at Boston College and author of Professionals as Workers, Power in the Highest Degree, and Welcome to the Revolution
"This is a novel and important book. It reframes the study of professions, placing professional and expert workers across the unequal ranks of the highly skilled labor force on which the knowledge economy depends. This unprecedented empirical study confirms that the notion of a unified professional managerial class is as obsolete as the idyllic version of a community of professionals and it returns class analysis to its central theoretical place in the study of labor." â Magali Sarfatti Larson, Professor Emerita of Sociology,Temple University and author of The Rise of Professionalism
"In this book, D.W. Livingstone's formidable research experience on work, education and economic change is brought to bear on the growth of professions. He and his colleagues, using both international statistics and close-focus studies of managers, engineers and nurses, give us a radical new perspective. They offer convincing proof of deep class divisions within professional worlds, and challenge the familiar rhetoric of the 'knowledge economy'. It's the kind of social science we need: carefully researched, deeply reasoned, and sharply relevant." â Raewyn Connell, Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney and author of The Good University and Southern Theory
"Essential reading for anyone interested in the future of work in the 'knowledge economy.' The book explodes common myths about the power and autonomy of professional employees, showing a loss of control long suffered by industrial workers. Bringing class analysis back, the authorsâ documentation of professional proletarianization points to a new labor struggle protecting all workers and nourishing the collective intellect of 21st century societies." â Charles Derber, Professor of Sociology at Boston College and author of Professionals as Workers, Power in the Highest Degree, and Welcome to the Revolution
"This is a novel and important book. It reframes the study of professions, placing professional and expert workers across the unequal ranks of the highly skilled labor force on which the knowledge economy depends. This unprecedented empirical study confirms that the notion of a unified professional managerial class is as obsolete as the idyllic version of a community of professionals and it returns class analysis to its central theoretical place in the study of labor." â Magali Sarfatti Larson, Professor Emerita of Sociology,Temple University and author of The Rise of Professionalism
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
About the Authors
Introduction: Professional Power and Skill Use
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 General Research Questions
â2 General Context
â3 General Theoretical Approach
â4 Mystification of Classes and Skills
â5 Changing Workplaces
â6 Professional Power
â7 Underemployment
â8 Professional Learning
â9 Research Design
â10 Basic Data Sources
â11 Methods of Analysis
â12 Further Chapters
1 The Emergent Class Structure of Professionals in Advanced Capitalist âKnowledge Economiesâ
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 The Rise of Professional Occupations with Specialised Knowledge
â3 Changes in the General Distribution of Occupations
â4 Basic Division of Labour in Advanced Capitalist Workplaces
â5 The Changing General Employment Class Structure
â6 Development of Professional Classes and Distribution of Professionals in the Class Structure
â7 Professional Classes and Workplace Power: Initial Profile
â8 Concluding Remarks
2 Comparing Power and Working Conditions of Professional Employees and Other Employment Classes: General Levels and Trends, 1982â2016
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Professional Employees in the Class Structure
â3 Professional Employees in the Capitalist Labour Process
â4 Levels and Trends in Professional Employeesâ and Other Employment Classesâ Job Control
â5 Findings
â6 Conclusion
3 The Rise and Polarisation of Managers and Professional Managers
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Managerial Levels
â3 The Rise of Managers
â4 Situating Managers in the Class Structure
â5 National Survey Findings, 1982â2016
â6 The Rise of Professional Managers, âHybridityâ and Polarisation
â7 The Case of Engineering Managers
â8 Concluding Remarks
4 Declining Power, Increasing Underemployment and Learning Challenges for Professional Employees in âKnowledge Economiesâ
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Declining Relative Power of Professional Employees
â3 General Changes in Working Conditions
â4 Underemployment in Advanced Capitalism
â5 Basic Dimensions of Underemployment
â6 Contradictions of Paid Employment and Formal Education
â7 Growth of Post-Secondary Completion and Credential Underemployment
â8 Computer Skill Requirements and Skill Underemployment
â9 Underemployment and Continuing Learning
â9 Attitudes to Underemployment
â10 Note on Other Professional Classes, Underemployment and Continuing Learning
â11 Concluding Remarks
5 Comparing Engineers, Nurses, Professionals in General and the General Labour Force: A Class Analysis of Survey Data
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Class Structure
â3 Job Qualifications and Regulatory Licensing
â4 Association and Union Membership
â5 Social Background Profiles
â6 General Working Conditions
â7 Workplace Control
â8 Training and Skill Use
â9 Economic Attitudes
â10 Concluding Remarks
6 Engineers, Skills, and Intra-Professional Inequalities
âTracey L. Adams
â1 Introduction
â2 Changing Nature of Professional Work
â3 Engineering in Canada
â4 Some Methodological Details: The Engineering Case Study
â5 Recent Changes to Engineering Practice in Ontario, Canada
â6 Engineers at Work in Ontario: An Overview
â7 Working Conditions, Authority and Autonomy
â8 Skill, Knowledge, and Change over Time
â9 Conclusion
7 Nurses, Skills, and Intra-Professional Inequalities
âEdward V. Cruz and Peter H. Sawchuk
â1 Introduction
â2 Historical Origins of Nursing in Canada
â3 Some Methodological Details: The Nursing Case Study
â4 The Changing Nature of Nursing Skill, Knowledge and Work in Canada
â5 Internal Divisions and Dimensions within the Profession
â6 Working Conditions, Authority, and Autonomy
â7 Skill, Knowledge, and Change over Time
â8 Interview Findings
â9 Discussion and Conclusions
8 Ethical Dilemmas and Workplace Change: Nurses and Engineers
âTracey L. Adams and Peter H. Sawchuk
â1 Introduction
â2 Professional Ethics
â3 Organisational Logics, Professional Logics and Hybridisation
â4 Ethical Tensions and Professional-Managerial Hybridity
â5 Survey Findings/Analysis
â6 Interview Findings/Analysis
â7 Discussion and Conclusions
Conclusion: Waning Power, Wasted Skill
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 General Findings
â2 General Comparisons
â3 Engineers and Nurses
â4 Further Steps
Appendix 1: List of Quoted Interviewees
Appendix 2: Regulatory Licensing Status of Professionals
Index
List of Tables
About the Authors
Introduction: Professional Power and Skill Use
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 General Research Questions
â2 General Context
â3 General Theoretical Approach
â4 Mystification of Classes and Skills
â5 Changing Workplaces
â6 Professional Power
â7 Underemployment
â8 Professional Learning
â9 Research Design
â10 Basic Data Sources
â11 Methods of Analysis
â12 Further Chapters
1 The Emergent Class Structure of Professionals in Advanced Capitalist âKnowledge Economiesâ
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 The Rise of Professional Occupations with Specialised Knowledge
â3 Changes in the General Distribution of Occupations
â4 Basic Division of Labour in Advanced Capitalist Workplaces
â5 The Changing General Employment Class Structure
â6 Development of Professional Classes and Distribution of Professionals in the Class Structure
â7 Professional Classes and Workplace Power: Initial Profile
â8 Concluding Remarks
2 Comparing Power and Working Conditions of Professional Employees and Other Employment Classes: General Levels and Trends, 1982â2016
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Professional Employees in the Class Structure
â3 Professional Employees in the Capitalist Labour Process
â4 Levels and Trends in Professional Employeesâ and Other Employment Classesâ Job Control
â5 Findings
â6 Conclusion
3 The Rise and Polarisation of Managers and Professional Managers
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Managerial Levels
â3 The Rise of Managers
â4 Situating Managers in the Class Structure
â5 National Survey Findings, 1982â2016
â6 The Rise of Professional Managers, âHybridityâ and Polarisation
â7 The Case of Engineering Managers
â8 Concluding Remarks
4 Declining Power, Increasing Underemployment and Learning Challenges for Professional Employees in âKnowledge Economiesâ
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Declining Relative Power of Professional Employees
â3 General Changes in Working Conditions
â4 Underemployment in Advanced Capitalism
â5 Basic Dimensions of Underemployment
â6 Contradictions of Paid Employment and Formal Education
â7 Growth of Post-Secondary Completion and Credential Underemployment
â8 Computer Skill Requirements and Skill Underemployment
â9 Underemployment and Continuing Learning
â9 Attitudes to Underemployment
â10 Note on Other Professional Classes, Underemployment and Continuing Learning
â11 Concluding Remarks
5 Comparing Engineers, Nurses, Professionals in General and the General Labour Force: A Class Analysis of Survey Data
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 Introduction
â2 Class Structure
â3 Job Qualifications and Regulatory Licensing
â4 Association and Union Membership
â5 Social Background Profiles
â6 General Working Conditions
â7 Workplace Control
â8 Training and Skill Use
â9 Economic Attitudes
â10 Concluding Remarks
6 Engineers, Skills, and Intra-Professional Inequalities
âTracey L. Adams
â1 Introduction
â2 Changing Nature of Professional Work
â3 Engineering in Canada
â4 Some Methodological Details: The Engineering Case Study
â5 Recent Changes to Engineering Practice in Ontario, Canada
â6 Engineers at Work in Ontario: An Overview
â7 Working Conditions, Authority and Autonomy
â8 Skill, Knowledge, and Change over Time
â9 Conclusion
7 Nurses, Skills, and Intra-Professional Inequalities
âEdward V. Cruz and Peter H. Sawchuk
â1 Introduction
â2 Historical Origins of Nursing in Canada
â3 Some Methodological Details: The Nursing Case Study
â4 The Changing Nature of Nursing Skill, Knowledge and Work in Canada
â5 Internal Divisions and Dimensions within the Profession
â6 Working Conditions, Authority, and Autonomy
â7 Skill, Knowledge, and Change over Time
â8 Interview Findings
â9 Discussion and Conclusions
8 Ethical Dilemmas and Workplace Change: Nurses and Engineers
âTracey L. Adams and Peter H. Sawchuk
â1 Introduction
â2 Professional Ethics
â3 Organisational Logics, Professional Logics and Hybridisation
â4 Ethical Tensions and Professional-Managerial Hybridity
â5 Survey Findings/Analysis
â6 Interview Findings/Analysis
â7 Discussion and Conclusions
Conclusion: Waning Power, Wasted Skill
âD.W. Livingstone
â1 General Findings
â2 General Comparisons
â3 Engineers and Nurses
â4 Further Steps
Appendix 1: List of Quoted Interviewees
Appendix 2: Regulatory Licensing Status of Professionals
Index
All interested in status and working conditions of professionals in contemporary societies. This is a core text in social science courses on professions, work, class, stratification, education, very relevant to researchers and advanced students.