A-gendering skills: conversations around women, work and skill: an Australian perspective

These 12 papers are part of the study materials for the one-semester distance education unit, Project Development Plan 2, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University (Australia). They examine the breadth and depth of the actions and debates around the social construction of skill and the critical role played by the concept of skill in the gendering of the workplace. An introduction from Elaine Butler and Mike Brown provides an overview of the papers. The first two papers illustrate the broad picture: 'Con-testing skill: women, skill and training in Australia' by Elaine Butler and...  [+] Show more

These 12 papers are part of the study materials for the one-semester distance education unit, Project Development Plan 2, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University (Australia). They examine the breadth and depth of the actions and debates around the social construction of skill and the critical role played by the concept of skill in the gendering of the workplace. An introduction from Elaine Butler and Mike Brown provides an overview of the papers. The first two papers illustrate the broad picture: 'Con-testing skill: women, skill and training in Australia' by Elaine Butler and Helen Connole, locates contemporary studies of women and skill within the discourses of education and training and the Australian microeconomic reform agenda; 'The gendering of skill and vocationalism in twentieth-century Australian education' by Jill Blackmore, provides an historical base for the contemporary discourse as well as a framework for future critique.

Other papers are as follows: 'What's in a word: recognition of women's skills in workplace change' by Cate Poynton and Kim Lazenby, offers a precis of a research project that renames the skills of women workers in clerical occupations; 'From industry to enterprise: issues for women workers around award and industry restructuring' by Kim Windsor, investigates the potential for 'women's' industries to influence award and industry restructuring processes; 'Women and skill formation' by Ann Byrne, draws on Labour Research Center research, with a focus on skill identification issues, classifications, and methodologies; 'Women and award restructuring in local government' by Mira Robertson, considers implications for women workers within the industry; 'The transport industry: another challenge for women' by Robyn Francis, juxtaposes the male-dominated transport industry and its inherent challenges against 'feminized' industries; 'Women's skills in community services' by Susan Kenna, contends that a fundamental shift is required in the way caring occupations are valued; 'Community Service Workers and pay equity' by Sara Charlesworth, pursues issues of valuing service work and the skills inherent in such work; 'Skill and skill formation for women workers: a case study of the hospitality industry' by Sue Harper, reports on a project that investigated women working in the hospitality industry in jobs usually viewed as unskilled or semiskilled; 'Training for the computerized office: crisis or opportunity?' by Rosemary J. Harris, is a personal perspective of one female worker's experiences; 'The ideology of skill and gender: a selective review of the literature' by Cathy Emery, is a review of the literature around the ideology and construct of skill.