Atlantis Vol. 8 No. 2
Spring/Printemps
1983
11-25
Conceptions of
Skill and the Work
of Women: Some
Historical and
Political Issues
1
Jane Gaskell
University of British Columbia
Assumptions about what constitutes " s k i l l e d "
and " u n s k i l l e d " work have been fundamental to
the d i v i s i o n of labour i n the workplace, to ideol o g i c a l divisions w i t h i n the w o r k i n g class a n d to
academic a n d p o l i c y discussion about the labour
force. T h e terms have been important i n the
ways workers a n d employers describe a n d understand differences a m o n g workers. T h e y have
been adopted by academics a n d p o l i c y makers
seeking to understand labour markets and the
nature of w o r k . T h e i r use is based o n the comm o n understanding that skilled workers have
more to offer their employers, a n d thus rightfully enjoy higher esteem, a n d a better bargaini n g position i n relation to management and
other workers. Recently the terms have taken o n
added importance i n Canada, as the state has
argued that a shortage of " s k i l l e d " workers constitutes a major problem for the economy even i n
a time of general unemployment (Dodge, 1981;
Betcherman, 1981). T h i s d e f i n i t i o n of the problem suggests a reallocation of resources towards
attracting a n d t r a i n i n g skilled workers, w h i l e
the u n s k i l l e d are left to fend for themselves.
W o m e n are rarely considered to be skilled
workers. O n e can f i n d constant references to
women's lack of skills i n the research literature.
Studies of the socialization and education of
girls are often premised o n the assumption that
we need to understand the ways i n w h i c h girls
become deskilled—learning the attitudes (passivity, fear of success) and intellectual styles
(docility, dependence) w h i c h fit them for less
skilled areas of work (Horner, 1970; Levy, 1972).
Studies i n the h u m a n capital tradition explore
h o w women's lower earnings at work are explained by their lack of " h u m a n c a p i t a l " i.e.
relevant work skills (Becker, 1964). In this tradition, Polachek (1975, 1976) characterizes female
occupations as " r e q u i r i n g lesser amounts of
training" and " m e n i a l . "
Even theorists w h o are explicitly feminist
and/or M a r x i s t characterize women's jobs as
d e m a n d i n g less s k i l l . W o m e n "are still overw h e l m i n g l y slotted into specific industries and
occupations characterized by l o w pay, l o w skill
requirements, l o w productivity a n d l o w prospects for advancement" (Armstrong, 1978: 16).
" W o m e n are p a i d less even for the same job.
T h e y usually get less skilled jobs. T h e y are given
p r o p o r t i o n a l l y less responsibility i n the hierarchy, a n d they are the last h i r e d a n d first f i r e d . "
(Castells, 1980: 191). W o l p e (1978) describes
w o m e n " c l u s t e r i n g at the lowest levels of the
occupational hierarchy, i n terms of both pay a n d
skills (p. 294)."
A more careful analysis of the jobs w o m e n do
reveals that these claims are entirely too facile.
We usually take s c h o o l i n g as an important
index of " s k i l l " but w o m e n i n the labour force
are more educated o n the average than men i n
the labour force. (Picot, 1980; G a s k e l l , 1982).
B o y d (1981), i n Canada, a n d W o l f a n d Rosenfeld
(1978), i n the U . S . , have s h o w n that o n indices of
occupational status, w o m e n do not appear disadvantaged i n relation to men. E n g l u n d (1982)
shows that jobs i n w h i c h women predominate
require as m u c h f o r m a l s c h o o l i n g a n d as m u c h
"cogitive c o m p l e x i t y " as the jobs i n w h i c h m e n
predominate. Indeed, she concludes, based o n
the official government ratings i n the American
Dictionary of Occupations, that "females actually have a n advantageous occupational s k i l l
distribution o n balance."
T h i s analysis is immensely valuable i n showi n g that the p r o b l e m for w o m e n is not i n their
skills, but i n the way these skills are rewarded.
W i t h the same education a n d skills as a m a n , a
woman gets paid less. Occupations w h i c h employ
a large number of w o m e n pay less for the same
skills than occupations w h i c h employ a large
number of men (Oppenheimer, 1970).
But the argument about s k i l l can be taken i n
another direction, to explore h o w the assumption that w o m e n are u n s k i l l e d has come to be so
widely shared. Most discussions proceed as if
s k i l l were an easily identified a n d quantified
characteristic of a job, like pay and prospects for
advancement. B u t s k i l l is a socially constructed
category a n d we need to i n q u i r e about h o w it is
constructed. W h a t counts as a " s k i l l " a n d why?
T h e ability to manage social interaction, the
ability to put u p w i t h routine tasks, the ability to
analyze problems or the possession of a particular k i n d of credential? Different things may
count i n different circumstances. Different people w i l l count different things.
In this paper it w i l l be argued that m a n a g i n g
s k i l l definitions is a p o l i t i c a l process, one that
organized workers engage i n continually. W o m e n
have been at a disadvantage i n this process of
m a n a g i n g s k i l l definitions because they have not
been represented by strong collective organizations. As a result, the notion of skilled work is
used i n a way that devalues the w o r k w o m e n do.
Understanding how this happens w i l l provide
w o m e n w i t h more awareness of how to combat
c o n t i n u i n g attempts to d o w n p l a y the skills
involved i n their work.
T h i s paper w i l l begin to look at these processes as they have influenced w o r k i n g class jobs.
Others have explored how professional groups
have engaged i n similar p o l i t i c a l struggles, acti n g to monopolize access to, mystify a n d charge
h i g h prices for the skills they have (Collins,
1979). W o m e n professionals have had less p o l i t i cal power than their male counterparts, a n d the
consequences for women can be explored. T h e y
include, arguably, the classification of women's
professional work as o n l y "semiprofessional"
(nursing, teaching, librarianship), the underrepresentation of w o m e n i n the male professions, a n d the takeover of some areas of women's
work, notably midwifery, by more " s k i l l e d "
professionals.
Rethinking Skills
Some recent work has begun to challenge the
taken for granted nature of s k i l l labels. Braverm a n (1974) especially urged a r e t h i n k i n g of the
way we accept official designations of what is
skilled or u n s k i l l e d work. H e points out that,
according to census categories, work today is
considerably more skilled than work a century
ago because more people w o r k w i t h machines.
But the reality behind the census classifications
is considerably more complex. For instance,
although the census classified drivers of motorized vehicles as s k i l l e d and drivers of horsedrawn vehicles as u n s k i l l e d , Braverman comments,
ent types of labour is the differentiated prestige
of men's activities a n d women's activities. Whatever men do—even if it is dressing dolls for religious ceremonies—is more prestigeous than
what w o m e n do a n d is treated as a higher
achievement." M o r e recently, P h i l l i p s and T a y lor (1980) have argued:
Today, it w o u l d be more proper to regard
those w h o are able to drive vehicles as
u n s k i l l e d i n that respect at least, w h i l e
those w h o can care for, harness and m a n age a team of horses are certainly the possessors of a marked and u n c o m m o n ability.
There is certainly little reason to suppose
that the ability to drive a motor vehicle is
more demanding, requires longer t r a i n i n g
or habituation time, a n d thus represents a
higher or intrinsically more rewarding
skill (p. 430).
T h e classification of women's jobs as u n skilled a n d men's jobs as s k i l l e d or semiskilled frequently bears little relation to the
actual amount of training or ability required
for them. S k i l l definitions are saturated
w i t h sexual bias. T h e work of women is
often deemed inferior s i m p l y because it is
w o m e n w h o do it. W o m e n workers carry
i n t o the workplace their status as subordinate individuals a n d this status comes to
define the work they do (p. 79).
But h a v i n g pointed out that the government
classification system does not accurately describe
skill levels, Braverman reverts to his o w n definition of skill as one that is accurate. H e sees skills
as "traditionally b o u n d u p w i t h craft mastery,"
and, as he indicated above, tied to training time
and the " c o m m o n n e s s " of skills. H e assumes
this definition is shared w i t h his readers and
validated by c o m m o n sense. H e does not want to
pursue issues i n the sociology of knowledge,
being uneasy w i t h definitions of skill that depend
o n "relativistic or contemporary notions," (p.
430) especially as he sees " s k i l l e d " c o m i n g to
mean "able to perform repetitive tasks w i t h
m a n u a l dexterity" a usage w h i c h is produced by
changes i n the organization of work and w h i c h
he deplores. B u t his o w n concern w i t h c h a n g i n g
and wrongheaded notions of s k i l l suggests the
importance of enquiry into the processes involved
i n p r o d u c i n g s k i l l labels.
Some feminist work has also begun to question the connection between s k i l l labels a n d the
actual content of w o r k . Margaret Mead has written, " O n e aspect of this social evaluation of differ-
In this passage P h i l l i p s a n d T a y l o r see genderdistorting s k i l l classification, m u c h i n the way
that Braverman sees s k i l l labels being distorted
by c a p i t a l i s m . For P h i l l i p s a n d T a y l o r , the
a m o u n t of t r a i n i n g a n d " a b i l i t y " required are
legitimate bases for differentiating a m o n g s k i l l
levels. B u t what m i g h t be called, i n social psychology, a " h a l o " effect acts to increase the status
of men's work, because men do it.
W h i l e this process surely occurs, P h i l l i p s a n d
T a y l o r do not go far e n o u g h i n e x p l o r i n g h o w
the social construction of s k i l l categories works
against w o m e n . A b i l i t y itself is a socially defined
concept. W h i c h abilities count? It depends o n
w h o is u s i n g what criteria, w h i c h returns us to
the o r i g i n a l problem that employers do not
value women's abilities. T r a i n i n g time is also
not a clear indicator of the difficulty of learning
to do a job. H o w are we to determine the a m o u n t
of t r a i n i n g "necessary" to a n "adequate" performance of a job? Rather, the length and f o r m
that training w i l l take is decided through p o l i t i cal a n d economic struggle. So what P h i l l i p s a n d
T a y l o r take as potentially objective valuations of
s k i l l levels are themselves socially produced.
Barrett (1980) places her discussion of s k i l l
squarely i n the context of p o l i t i c a l struggles
between men and w o m e n under capitalism.
" W o m e n have frequently failed to establish
recognition of the skills required by their work,
and have consequently been i n a weak bargaini n g p o s i t i o n i n a divided a n d internally competitive w o r k force...we need to k n o w precisely h o w
and why some groups of workers succeed i n
establishing definitions of their work as skilled
(p. 166)." By asking about the p o l i t i c a l processes
responsible for s k i l l labelling, she is p o i n t i n g to
the questions I w i l l pursue here. She goes o n to
suggest that t r a i n i n g requirements may be part,
not of " r e a l " s k i l l requirements, but of the way
s k i l l categories are constructed. " T r a i n i n g a n d
recruitment may be h i g h l y controlled a n d s k i l l
rendered inaccessible for the purposes of retaini n g the differentials a n d privilege of the labour
aristocracy(p. 168)."
Education and the Creation of Skill
It has been shown above that even those w h o
p o i n t to the ideological content of s k i l l ratings
(Braverman, P h i l l i p s a n d T a y l o r ) tend to rely o n
time spent i n t r a i n i n g as a legitimate way to
differentiate between skilled a n d unskilled work.
T h i s is not the only criterion, but it is an i m p o r tant one. T i m e is a useful measure for a d m i n i s trators or social scientists t r y i n g to come u p w i t h
ratings, as it can be turned into a number a n d
used to compare things that are actually quite
u n l i k e . T i m e becomes a mode of exchange of
value, l i k e money, a n d it creates the same problem of "fetishizing the c o m m o d i t y , " i n M a r x ' s
terms, l o s i n g sight of what it actually represents
and h o w it is produced. T h u s time i n t r a i n i n g is
turned i n t o s k i l l ratings, reifying s k i l l into a
unidimensional " t h i n g . "
T h i s is the assumption b u i l t into the Canadian Classification
and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO), w h i c h is the state's attempt to
systematically "classify a n d define occupational
activity i n the world of w o r k " (Canadian Govern-
ment, 1977). T h e s k i l l level of a job i n the CCDO
is expressed partly i n terms of general educational development ( G E D ) and specific vocational preparation (SVP). G E D measures the
levels of numeracy, literacy, comprehension and
reading skills necessary for performing a job.
W h i l e this is not identical w i t h the number of
years of schooling required, it is "assumed to
result from participation i n the educational syst e m . " T h e S V P , w h i c h is h i g h l y correlated w i t h
the G E D rating, is based o n the " t i m e necessary
for a c q u i r i n g specific s k i l l s . " T h i s is estimated
f r o m time i n "vocational training, apprenticeship, in-plant and on-the-job training, as well as
f r o m experience i n other occupations."
T a k i n g training time as a sign of s k i l l assumes
that the length of t r a i n i n g depends o n the difficulty, complexity and breadth of understanding
necessary for performing the work. There is a
l o n g tradition i n the sociology of education that
treats s k i l l i n just this way, as something accumulated through years of formal education. T h i s
view of s k i l l has been used to e x p l a i n why more
educated workers are preferred by employers,
p a i d more and enjoy lower unemployment rates.
It underlies h u m a n capital theory, and the analysis of schooling as a " f a i r " mechanism for allocating jobs i n the society (Becker, 1964; Parsons,
1959).
But many recent strands of the sociology of
education have raised questions about this comm o n scenario. Educational attainment may act
as a " s i g n a l " or a "screen," without i m p a r t i n g
any necessary skills (Spence, 1973). Some have
argued that the skills learned at school have very
little importance o n the job (Berg, 1970; H a l l
and C a r l t o n , 1977). T h e time t r a i n i n g takes can
vary for the same job, a n d changes when the
actual skills involved i n the work do not. T h e
t r a i n i n g of teachers is an example. It has been
suggested that what is learned i n school is not
any technical s k i l l , but social orientation that
employers prefer because they produce a quies-
cent workforce. (Bowles a n d G i n t i s , 1976; C o l lins, 1979). A s C o l l i n s summarizes his critique,
T h e great majority of a l l jobs can be
learned through practice by any literate
person. T h e number of esoteric specialties
" r e q u i r i n g " unusually extensive training
or skills is relatively s m a l l . T h e "system"
does not " n e e d " or " d e m a n d " a certain
k i n d of performance; it "needs" what it
gets, because " i t " is n o t h i n g more than a
slip shod way of t a l k i n g about the way
things h a p p e n to be at the time. H o w hard
people work, and w i t h what dexterity and
cleverness, depends o n h o w m u c h other
people can require them to do, a n d o n how
m u c h they can dominate other people (p.
54).
In other words, the correspondence between
schooling a n d work need not be very strong, and
certainly does not need to be based o n " s k i l l . "
W h i l e there undoubtedly are instances where
training does develop necessary skills, this must
not be assumed to be the case.
Secondly, the notion that education serves the
employer i n some straightforward way has been
increasingly questioned. It is more useful to see
educational institutions and the state i n general
as a site of class struggle than as a mechanical
reflection of what employers want (Cathcart,
Esland and J o h n s o n , 1981; A p p l e , 1982). E m ployers w i l l have more resources, power, and
access to d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g than most other
groups, but education does have some independence, a n d other groups are able to exert
some influence. T h i s has produced innumerable
struggles over what w i l l be i n the c u r r i c u l u m ,
when and how it w i l l be taught, and what w i l l be
left i n the hands of parents or employers or
unions. T h e form that specfic s k i l l t r a i n i n g and
vocational education w i l l take has been one of
the major areas of this struggle, w i t h i n the public school system as well as i n the workplace a n d
i n state-run training programs.
T o summarize, although length of t r a i n i n g is
taken as a sign of the s k i l l level of a job, there is
no necessary relation between the time spent i n
school a n d level of difficulty of the work. M a n y
p o l i t i c a l factors influence the length a n d k i n d of
training. Research has often shown little relationship between the skills workers use at w o r k
and what they learned i n school. S c h o o l i n g a n d
forms of t r a i n i n g can, however, have a material
impact o n the operation of labour markets by
i n f l u e n c i n g the supply of workers a n d the way
that q u a l i f i e d workers are recognized—both legally t h r o u g h licensing a n d more i n f o r m a l l y i n
personnel practices. For this reason there has
been considerable contention over what forms
t r a i n i n g w i l l take, and what kinds of skills are
recognized a n d regulated.
T h e usefulness of this framework can be i l l u s trated by l o o k i n g briefly at the way craft u n i o n s
have struggled over kinds of t r a i n i n g to m a i n tain definitions of their work as skilled. T h i s
paper w i l l then consider clerical workers to see
how they have been unable to w i n s i m i l a r battles, a n d h o w the organization of t r a i n i n g there
contributes to the work's " u n s k i l l e d " character.
T h i s is a very preliminary overview, but w i l l
suggest a new set of questions about s k i l l , a n d
work, a n d education, w h i c h need to be addressed
by further research.
The "Skilled" Trades
In most employment documents a n d sociological texts, as w e l l as a m o n g most workers, a
" s k i l l e d " labourer is equivalent to an artisan, a
craftsperson w h o performs a licensed trade. T h e
sign of a s k i l l e d labourer rather than a semiskilled or u n s k i l l e d one is the existence of an
apprenticeship w h i c h leads to licensing. W h i c h
trades are apprenticed, a n d exactly what an
apprenticeship involves, varies from country to
country (Reubens, 1978), but i n N o r t h A m e r i c a
apprenticeships are reserved for relatively few
trades a n d involve a period of three to six years of
on-the-job training w h i l e the trainee is employed
at less than a f u l l journeyman's wage ( D y m o n d ,
1973).
have been brought u p therein seven years at
the least as an apprentice (Rule, 1981).
T h i s f o r m of t r a i n i n g is rarely a p p l i e d to the
w o r k w o m e n do. There are o n l y a few trades
where w o m e n are represented—hairdressingand
c o o k i n g b e i n g the m a i n ones. A 1978 study
showed 3% of the participants i n apprenticeship
programs i n Canada were female ( Z i m m e r m a n ,
1981). M i t c h e l l (1979) f o u n d that 7.5% of a l l participants i n apprenticeship a n d pre-apprentices h i p programs i n B . C . were w o m e n . Briggs
(1974) has p o i n t e d out that " o f the multitude of
potentially apprenticeable jobs a n d occupations... those that have been recognized and approved for f o r m a l apprenticeships h a d w i t h o n l y
one or two outstanding exceptions happened to
fall i n the traditionally male occupational category."
In fact, these regulations seem to have been
mostly a p p l i e d to men and male work a l t h o u g h
a few women's trades (e.g. m i l l i n e r y ) were well
organized. Women's work i n the home meant
that most women learned the arts of textile
manufacture, sewing, food processing, cleaning,
and, to a certain extent, trading ( H a r t m a n , 1979).
T h i s made it difficult to monopolize the skills, to
create "mysteries." W o m e n also worked i n trades
that were carried o n as family industries w i t h the
male as head and journeyman, so that they
picked u p the necessary skills without being
formally apprenticed (Foner, 1980).
1
H o w does this " h a p p e n ? " T h e previous section of this paper argues that we can l o o k for the
reasons i n the history of p o l i t i c a l struggles over
apprenticeship, rather than s i m p l y i n characteristics of the work performed. Briggs herself
argues that j o b descriptions show few s k i l l differences between apprenticed and m u c h n o n apprenticed a n d female work, even w h e n official
s k i l l ratings systematically underrate the skills
involved i n women's work.
Apprenticeships have their o r i g i n i n the practices of the medieval guilds or "mysteries" as
they were sometimes called. T h e name "mystery" emphasizes the special a n d c o m p l e x nature
of craft knowledge, and the l o n g process of
apprenticeship that was necessary to learn it
adequately. Apprenticeships have always been
subject to p o l i t i c a l struggle between labour a n d
capital. Apprenticeships were made a universal
and compulsory f o r m of job t r a i n i n g i n B r i t a i n
i n 1563 through an act of parliament.
It shall not be l a w f u l to any person...to
exercise any craft n o w used w i t h i n the
realm of E n g l a n d or Wales, except he shall
It is u n l i k e l y that even i n male trades, the
apprenticeship law was a p p l i e d very strictly,
except where the power of the crafts was great
enough to ensure it. However, the law acted as a
symbol of the legitimate claims of the craft
unions to control entry a n d t r a i n i n g into work.
T h e repeal of the act i n 1814 followed a prolonged struggle between organized skilled labour
and m a n u f a c t u r i n g employers seeking a free
labour force (Rule, 1981).
T h e discussion at the time sounds remarkably
similar to contemporary discussions of t r a i n i n g
requirements (More, 1980: ch. 3; R u l e , 1981: ch.
4; T h o m p s o n , 1963: 278-280). A t a time when
new technologies were altering jobs i n the
workplace and employers feared that the worki n g classes represented a g r o w i n g and serious
threat, apprenticeship regulations came under
attack. M u c h evidence was produced to show
that far from teaching complex skills apprenticeships were a way of e x p l o i t i n g y o u n g labourers at l o w wages and creating artificial shortages
of workers. A d a m S m i t h maintained that any
trade, even a skilled one like watch-making,
c o u l d be learned i n a matter of weeks. T h e craft
unions fought the repeal of the law a n d attempted i n many job specific job actions to enforce its
provisions. L e a r n i n g took place o n the shop
floor through the precept a n d example of older
workers, a n d the artisans considered the k n o w ledge involved their property, not to be taken
from them by the state or the employer. Apprenticeships served to l i m i t the supply of labour, to
stop wages being undercut by n o n - u n i o n members, and to enhance the status and s k i l l of the
journeyman.
D u r i n g the nineteenth century some trades
were still able to consolidate their position
enough to l i m i t , regulate and enforce apprenticeships. There is a c o n t i n u i n g record of work
stoppages and other forms of job action over
apprenticeship provisions into the twentieth
century ( T h o m p s o n , 1963; Palmer, 1979; K e i gley, 1980; More, 1980). T h e y represent a c o n t i n u i n g attempt by workers whose skills were still
officially recognized to retain their power i n the
labour market i n the face of continued reorganization of production that threatened to displace
them.
O n l y where w o r k i n g people were able to
establish powerful trade societies, as i n the
case of male mule-spinners a n d the engineers, c o u l d a lengthy apprenticeship be
enforced (Lewenhak, 1977).
M e n were better organized than w o m e n to
resist attacks o n apprenticeships. In their struggles to m a i n t a i n their skilled status, their power,
and their wages, the craft unions excluded
w o m e n workers from t r a i n i n g and from u n i o n
membership. T h i s was done not simply because
of prejudice, but because w o m e n c o u l d be p a i d
lower wages and used to undermine the union's
position (Foner, 1980).
W o m e n were then used by employers as
strikebreakers. T h e fact that untrained w o m e n
were used by employers to replace male workers
suggests that the s k i l l necessary for work c o u l d
still be picked u p more casually than through a
formal apprenticeship. T h e apprenticeship
served to control the s u p p l y of labour and to
mystify the skills involved as m u c h as it served to
teach skills. T h e enforcement of apprenticeship
regulations and the exclusion of w o m e n became
tactics to preserve the skilled status of jobs under
attack. T h e consequence was that w o m e n were
pushed into areas of employment that d i d not
demand an apprenticeship.
There has been m u c h debate i n the literature
on apprenticeship as to whether it imparts
necessary skills to workers or whether it is
s i m p l y , as Lee (1981) puts it, " a period of r i t u a l
servitude designed to reinforce exclusive u n i o n i s m . " F r o m James H o w e l l (1877) and the Webbs
(1920) to more recent critics ( W i l l i a m s , 1957;
L i e p m a n , 1960; G l e a s o n a n d M a r d l e , 1981),
commentators have argued that apprenticeships
do not i n fact teach m u c h that is necessary for
d o i n g the job. Others (More, 1980; Less, 1981;
R y r i e a n d Wier, 1978) argue that this is at least
overgeneralized, and that important skills are
picked u p through apprenticeships a n d are used
on the job.
Whatever its t r a i n i n g functions, it is clear that
where apprenticeships exist they are an i m p o r tant i n s t i t u t i o n i n the labour market, regulating
entry i n t o some jobs. T h e important p o i n t is
that the t r a i n i n g has remained i n a form that
controls entry by d e m a n d i n g that trainees be
hired by an employer w h o is w i l l i n g to sponsor
and subsidize their t r a i n i n g o n the assumption
that the worker w i l l be an o n g o i n g part of the
organization of production. T h a t this form of
t r a i n i n g has been preserved, and has not been
turned into either specific s k i l l t r a i n i n g modules
on the job, or generalized technical t r a i n i n g i n
the h i g h school or c o m m u n i t y college, is due to
c o n t i n u i n g u n i o n pressure, an ability to i m p o r t
trained workers from abroad, and employers'
willingness to undertake t r a i n i n g for some m e n
who, they assume, w i l l stay o n the job. However,
it is clear that the number of apprenticeships is
still d e c l i n i n g (Ricketts, 1980; D y m o n d , 1973).
Clement's (1981) study of h a r d rock m i n i n g i n
Canada describes a contemporary Canadian example of the c o n t i n u i n g struggle over apprenticeship. A s technology has changed i n m i n i n g ,
management has reorganized work i n a way that
de-skills it. Management has also replaced traditional t r a i n i n g w i t h a company controlled m o d ular t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m that teaches the particular
processes necessary to operate particular machines, but provides no overall understanding of
the m i n i n g process or the variety of technological processes involved. T h e u n i o n has responded
by trying to introduce the "miner-as-a-trade"
program, w h i c h w o u l d certify m i n i n g apprentices and require a three year period of apprentices h i p w i t h eight weeks a year i n school i n addition to the time spent w o r k i n g i n specific areas.
T h i s is an attempt by the u n i o n to counteract the
d e - s k i l l i n g strategy of management. T h e u n i o n
has had l i m i t e d success persuading the government a n d management to recognize the program, a l t h o u g h i n M a n i t o b a , the N D P government d i d so a n d the m i n i n g company was forced
to participate.
A t present, the C a n a d i a n government is officially concerned about a shortage of " s k i l l s , "
especially the availability of people i n licensed
trades (Betcherman, 1980; Dodge, 1981). T h i s is
s i g n a l l i n g new attention to processes of t r a i n i n g
i n the trades, a new t r a i n i n g act, a n d a new
assault o n apprenticeships. Ways of increasing
the s u p p l y of labour a n d circumventing t r a i n i n g
requirements increase w h e n there is a labour
shortage. We can expect new initiatives i n the
area of t r a i n i n g for craft w o r k . Some of the signs
of this can already be seen. N e w research o n
generic skills i n the trades has been funded by the
C a n a d i a n Department of E m p l o y m e n t a n d I m m i g r a t i o n i n a n attempt to examine the transferability of skills a m o n g occupations (Smith,
1981). T h i s is undertaken w i t h the explicit p u r pose of reorganizing t r a i n i n g , a n d developing a
comprehensive c u r r i c u l u m based i n the h i g h
schools and the c o m m u n i t y colleges. Pre-apprenticeships are being introduced i n the h i g h schools
i n specific trades. A c o m m o n core p r o g r a m for
pre-apprenticeships i n a l l trades is being introduced into B . C . c o m m u n i t y colleges. Employers
c o m p l a i n about h a v i n g to pay for training, and
demand more government subsidies, w h i l e they
criticize the traditional apprenticeship system as
inefficient and f a i l i n g to produce enough skilled
workers (Ricketts, 1980).
T h e result is that the use of the apprenticeship
as a way of c o n t r o l l i n g the supply of labour is
c o n t i n u i n g to slip away from the unions. A more
open system based i n the p u b l i c schools and
c o m m u n i t y colleges is developing. T h e unions'
control of the content of t r a i n i n g is also underm i n e d . W h i l e unions have direct i n p u t into
what courses w i l l be offered i n apprenticeship
training, their control is weakened i n the p u b l i c
school system.
It is not clear what the result of these changes
w i l l be for w o m e n . T h e traditional structure of
apprenticeship d i d not result i n m u c h access to
the trades for w o m e n . T h e demise of the apprenticeship system a n d the emphasis o n general
skills taught i n educational institutions may
open recruitment more widely a n d permit more
w o m e n to at least compete for t r a i n i n g places
and employment. W o m e n are more likely to be
able to move into new areas of employment
w h e n these areas are e x p a n d i n g . O n the other
h a n d , some have argued that special initiatives
for w o m e n , affirmative action programs, and the
h o l d i n g of a certain quota of t r a i n i n g "seats" for
w o m e n , — a l l of w h i c h have been tried recently
i n the trades—will disappear as t r a i n i n g is reorganized. If women do gain more access to the
trades as t r a i n i n g becomes more widely available, shorter a n d therefore less valued, it w i l l
continue the tradition of w o m e n m o v i n g into
new areas of work as they get designated as " u n s k i l l e d . " T h i s is a process we can see by l o o k i n g
at clerical work.
Clerical Work
T h e T r a i n i n g for clerical work contrasts clearly
w i t h the t r a i n i n g for licensed trades. Clerical
work is quintessentially "women's w o r k . " In
any bureaucracy, clerical workers are at the bottom. T h e i r work is considered u n s k i l l e d and
routine and is p a i d accordingly. Career ladders
for clerical workers are short, and end w i t h i n
clerical or secretarial work, not a l l o w i n g a move
into managerial or technical areas, w h i c h are
considered skilled, and paid considerably more.
Clerical work i n the nineteenth century, and
earlier, was a male field, a skilled and small one.
Clerical jobs were p r i m a r i l y managerial, a l l o w i n g p r o m o t i o n into partnerships (Braverman,
1974; L o c k w o o d , 1958). T h e training was similar to an apprenticeship. "Master craftsmen,
such as bookkeepers or chief clerks, maintained
control over the process i n its totality, and
apprentices or journeyman craftsmen—ordinary
clerks, c o p y i n g clerks, a n d office boys—learned
their crafts i n office apprenticeships, and i n the
ordinary course of events advanced through the
levels by p r o m o t i o n " (Braverman, p. 299).
A r o u n d the turn of the century the typewriter
was introduced and what Braverman calls the
"factory office" began to appear. Clerical work
expanded rapidly, and w o m e n entered the new
jobs, w h i c h became increasingly cut off from
p r o m o t i o n o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d seen as " u n s k i l l e d . " In Canada, clerical work more than
doubled f r o m 2% of the workforce i n 1891 to 5%
i n 1901, a n d i n 1911 almost doubled again to 9%.
T h e percentage of w o m e n d o i n g clerical work
rose from 14% i n 1891, to 22% i n 1901 a n d 33% i n
1911 (Lowe, 1980).
Mechanization afforded considerable socioeconomic status and craft-like work to a
select g r o u p of female clerks. Early stenographers closely approximated the ideal of
craft work, as evident i n the range of their
skills a n d their greater mastery a n d control
over the work process (Lowe, p. 377).
T o begin w i t h , stenographers were able to translate this into h i g h wages. However, employers
were able to reorganize work so that skills were
fragmented a n d t y p i n g pools were created. P r i vate business schools opened. Clerical training
became part of the h i g h school c u r r i c u l u m . T h e
skills of the stenographer flooded the market,
and the w o r k lost its " s k i l l e d " status rapidly.
Wages and p r o m o t i o n opportunities declined.
T h e s t r i k i n g t h i n g about the training for
office work today is that it is widely available i n
many settings, most importantly i n the p u b l i c
h i g h schools. C o m m e r c i a l courses i n the h i g h
school have a u n i q u e status i n relationship to
the labour market. T h e y are seen as job training
m u c h more directly than any other part of the
h i g h school c u r r i c u l u m . T h e y specifically i n clude t y p i n g , shorthand a n d office machines:
technical skills w i t h little traditional academic
content. T h e y include social skills i n courses like
office practice a n d work experience, as well as
academic skills i n E n g l i s h and communications
courses. Course descriptions make no bones
about their vocational goals—"as many types of
written language projects as are relevant to office
work w i l l be i n c l u d e d , " " s h o u l d be capable of
h a n d l i n g books i n a s m a l l business f i r m , "
"qualifies a student for a high-standard secretarial
p o s i t i o n " (Gaskell, 1981), and teachers are exp l i c i t i n their concern for job-related social
skills—being feminine, dressing well and hand l i n g an interview ( V a l l i , 1982).
T a k i n g these courses is important i n securing
a secretarial job. T y p i n g a n d shorthand particularly are skills w h i c h cannot be p i c k e d u p i n a
matter of weeks o n the job, w h i c h can be learned
at school, a n d w h i c h are likely to be tested duri n g a j o b interview. As clerical w o r k employed
47% of females w i t h a h i g h school education i n
1971, these courses take o n a n enormous i m p o r tance for girls w h o are not p l a n n i n g to continue
post-secondary education, a n d they are seen as
a n occupational safety net even for girls w h o do
p l a n to go to college. T h e courses have relatively
l o w status i n the school; g o o d students are
encouraged to stay i n the more academic courses.
H a l l and C a r l t o n (1977) have suggested that
clerical work is the o n l y type of j o b obtained by a
significant number of h i g h school graduates
that demands significant technical skills. T h e y
arrive at this c o n c l u s i o n by a s k i n g employers
whether their employees have the skills necessary for their work. O n l y the employers of clerical workers want their employees to k n o w more.
W h y then is t r a i n i n g for clerical w o r k incorporated into the h i g h school c u r r i c u l u m when
t r a i n i n g for other types of w o r k is added o n after
h i g h school, o n the job or i n post-secondary
education? T h e forms of t r a i n i n g w h i c h we n o w
take for granted were historically constructed.
T h e incorporation of vocational education courses into the p u b l i c h i g h school was subject to
negotiation between employers, labour, a n d
educators ( H a r p , 1980; Schechter, 1977; D u n n ,
1979,1980; Bowles a n d G i n t i s , 1976). Progressive
educational reformers argued that the academic
c u r r i c u l u m was elitist, a n d needed to be adapted
to the needs of w o r k i n g class c h i l d r e n . T h e y
argued that vocational courses w o u l d provide
skills to make p u p i l s more productive and well
p a i d workers, and w o u l d mesh s c h o o l i n g w i t h
the economy to make it a more socially efficient
institution.
Employers saw vocational education as a
means of breaking workers' control over skills
training. Bowles a n d G i n t i s quote the N a t i o n a l
Association of Manufacturers, "It is p l a i n to see
that trade schools properly protected from the
d o m i n a t i o n a n d w i t h e r i n g blight of organized
labor are the one a n d only remedy for the present
intolerable c o n d i t i o n s " (p. 193). Rogers a n d
T y a c k (1982) describe business' response as a
" n o i s y , ambitious c a m p a i g n to insert t r a i n i n g
for jobs into schools (p. 282)."
L a b o u r was split on the w i s d o m of more vocational schooling i n the p u b l i c d o m a i n , w a n t i n g
to use it to increase the skills of workers and their
access to advancement, but fearing management
motives. W h i l e the Trades and L a b o u r Congress
declared itself i n complete sympathy w i t h the
recommendations of the C a n a d i a n R o y a l C o m mission o n T e c h n i c a l Education i n 1913, worki n g class testimony i n 1891 opposed more techn i c a l education i n schools o n the grounds that it
w o u l d lead to a congested labour market a n d
teach skills imperfectly (Schechter, 1977).
W h i l e the introduction of industrial education, home economics a n d business education
into the p u b l i c schools d i d occur i n the early
twentieth century, this " v i c t o r y " obscures the
fact that there were differences i n the forms of
t r a i n i n g that were introduced, a n d i n their relation to getting a job. As we have seen, some
apprenticeships continued outside the school,
and school-based industrial training was not
p r o d u c i n g students qualified for skilled industrial jobs. O n l y i n business education d i d the
t r a i n i n g for craft-like skills come to be lodged i n
p u b l i c schooling.
Studies of the specifics of business education
are m u c h less numerous than studies that inquire
more broadly into what is called vocational education, so conjecture about the differences exists
i n something of a vacuum. Weiss (1978) suggests
that business education courses were brought
i n t o the school i n an attempt to increase enrollments, especially of boys w h o were attending the
flourishing private business schools. T h i s explanation seems to correctly reflect the p u b l i c discussion i n schools at the time, and it has been
offered for other forms of vocational courses, but
it leaves various factors, especially related to the
developing organization of work, unanswered.
As Poss (1981) a n d Rogers a n d T y a c k (1982)
p o i n t out, schools i n the late nineteenth century
were already serving to train students for jobs i n
business.
Y o u t h s w h o gambled o n clerkships as the
entry p o i n t c o u l d g a i n a good deal of specific vocational t r a i n i n g from the schools,
at least as far as penmanship and cipheri n g . By the end of the century and i n still
greater numbers, young, urban, native born
women could capitalize o n the same instruction to work their way through schools
into the e x p a n d i n g secretarial and commercial positions opened to women (Rogers a n d Tyack, p. 274).
T h e existence and organization of the private
business schools was itself noteworthy, when we
compare it w i t h , for example, the organization
of t r a i n i n g for mechanics. T h e training was
provided off the job, was not subsidized by
employers a n d was open to anyone w i l l i n g to
pay the fee. W h y d i d the t r a i n i n g develop i n this
form outside the p u b l i c school, a form w h i c h
allowed it to be incorporated into the school
relatively easily?
T h e organization of clerical workers appears
to be a critical variable. T h e y were not unionized
and were not able to collectively organize to control access to the job at a time when the need for
labour was rapidly expanding. Moreover, as
clerical work became increasingly feminized,
employers were reluctant to invest i n on-the-job
training, seeing w o m e n as temporary workers,
w i t h short w o r k i n g lives, i n w h o m investment
w o u l d be wasted. T h u s the resistance of workers
was less a n d the p u s h for subsidized t r a i n i n g by
employers was greater. A s a result, clerical traini n g was available for p u b l i c school educators to
take over, w h i l e real t r a i n i n g for the male crafts
eluded their grasp.
Clerical t r a i n i n g is still not confined to the
h i g h school, important as its existence there is,
but is widely available to anyone who wants to
take a n i g h t course, a short day program at a
private secretarial college, or a variety of courses
at the c o m m u n i t y college level.The training is
short a n d intensive. Entrance involves n o nego-
tiations w i t h a u n i o n or an employer, a n d few
prerequisities, a l t h o u g h a h i g h school d i p l o m a
may be required.
W h a t results then is a large p o o l of labour, so
identified w i t h w o m e n that the assumption that
a l l w o m e n can type becomes prevalent. C l e r i c a l
skills become part of every women's skills, a l o n g
w i t h the ability to manage her personal appearance, support the men a r o u n d her a n d handle
interpersonal relations. T h e t r a i n i n g does not
appear scarce, l o n g a n d arduous but easy, taken
for granted (as l o n g as y o u are female) a n d thus
n o s k i l l at a l l .
T h e process shows signs of c o n t i n u i n g w i t h
the i n t r o d u c t i o n of computer technology into
the office. It is reducing the number of clerical
jobs a n d further truncating the career ladders
available to clerical workers. A l t h o u g h new jobs
i n v o l v i n g w o r k w i t h computers are o p e n i n g u p ,
these are not being filled by w o m e n w h o were
clerical workers, but by men w i t h " m o r e " a n d
certainly different skills (Feldbergfc G l e n , 1980;
Menzies, 1980).
T h e reasons for this are complex. Employers
prefer to hire workers w h o already have the skills
they need, instead of m o u n t i n g the t r a i n i n g at
their o w n expense. T h i s is particularly true if the
workers are w o m e n . Employers then hire directly
f o r m the p u b l i c schools, a n d streaming w i t h i n
the schools becomes critical for understanding
why w o m e n do not have access to new technical
and managerial jobs i n offices. T h e c u r r i c u l u m
guides for B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a ' s h i g h schools illustrate h o w processes of streaming i n the p u b l i c
schools are taking place. " D a t a processing" is
being introduced into the commercial curricul u m . In it, students learn to operate electronic
equipment. T h e objectives of the courses are set
out e x p l i c i t l y . F o r example, students w i l l learn
to "process data w i t h a) edge notched cards, b)
embossed plates, c) carbon paper." T h e y w i l l
"prepare source documents for i n p u t " u s i n g a
variety of techniques a n d they w i l l learn to "use
a variety of i n p u t media and devices" ( B . C . Dept.
of E d u c a t i o n , 1981). T h e y are learning to feed
the machine, w h i c h must involve some understanding of how the machine works, but their
knowledge is officially m i n i m a l .
In the math department, however, "computer
science" is offered. T h e name as well as the
course description tell the difference. In this
course, students learn to write programs u s i n g
various computer languages, and discuss h o w
the computer w i l l affect society. T h e y get defined
as potential technical experts. T h e commercial
teachers I have talked to see no reason for their
students to take this course, as it does not provide
skills an office worker w i l l use.
Processes of gender differentiation are displayed i n the placement of these courses. W e
k n o w that girls d r o p out of mathematics m u c h
more q u i c k l y than boys, and grade eleven is the
b e g i n n i n g of this process of differentiation.
M o r e boys then girl's then w i l l take the c o m p u ter m a t h courses. W e also k n o w that girls tend to
take the office courses preparing clerical workers.
More girls w i l l take the "data processing" course.
Instead of m o u n t i n g courses that introduce a l l
students equally to computers, courses are being
implemented i n a way that ensures differential
access to knowledge for boys and girls.
T h e clerical worker is not being given traini n g that allows her to understand the machines
she works w i t h , that w o u l d a l l o w her to be a
" s k i l l e d " worker or enter further training. H e r
t r a i n i n g is defined i n such a way that it is distinct
f r o m management t r a i n i n g or computer training. It is not j ust the lower end of a c o n t i n u u m . It
is a different " p r o g r a m . " O n e cannot graduate
f r o m one to the other. E n t e r i n g the commercial
p r o g r a m rather than the academic program acts
as a barrier to taking the courses necessary to be
recognized as a manager or a computer technician. Students w h o take business courses do not
have the prerequisites they need to get into u n i versity t r a i n i n g i n business administration or
computer science. Furthermore, the necessary
training for advancement is not offered o n the
job, as employers prefer employees w h o have
higher educational credentials, even when m u c h
of the t r a i n i n g occurs o n the job. T h e t r a i n i n g
process operates to give men without office experience the recognized attributes for advancement, while women's skills are downplayed.
Conclusions and Implications
T h e time and form that training for a job takes
are created through a process of political struggle between workers and capital. T h i s paper has
argued that some male workers have been able to
retain relatively lengthy apprenticeships w i t h
restricted access while women i n clerical work
are trained i n programs that are short and widely
available. W h i l e one might argue that neither
job is actually very difficult to learn, or that both
are quite difficult, there is little basis for a r g u i n g
that one is significantly more difficult to acquire
than the other. T h e differences arise i n the power
of organized male workers, their ability to monopolize access to their skills and the unwillingness
of employers to invest i n training women.
These two examples have shown h o w traini n g programs can help to create " s k i l l e d " workers
through l i m i t i n g access to jobs and institutiona l i z i n g and mystifying the " s k i l l s " involved.
Women's unskilled status is produced at least i n
part by training that is widely accessible and
formally short. Differences i n what one needs to
k n o w to do the job are less important than differences i n the ways this knowledge is transmitted and made available i n the labour market.
T h e way it is transmitted to new workers can
vary and this process is a process of m a n a g i n g
the image of s k i l l as m u c h as it is learning to do a
job. T o manage it successfully, y o u need power,
and male craft unions have had more power than
secretaries. Neither seems to be d o i n g very well at
the moment however. It is professional groups
that have been most successful i n this enterprise,
and the traditional male professions have been
the most successful of a l l i n both u n i t i n g access
and mystifying their skills.
T h i s analysis suggests that " s k i l l " s h o u l d not
be seen as an independant variable, a fixed
attribute of a job or a worker w h i c h w i l l e x p l a i n
higher wages or unemployment, as it is i n
h u m a n capital theory or neoclassical economics.
T h e " s k i l l e d " label instead stands for a p o l i t i c a l
process i n w h i c h some workers have more econ o m i c power than others. It is this power that
allows them both to make the " s k i l l e d " label
stick, and to demand higher wages, l i m i t entry
into the job and increase the stability of their
employment. S k i l l w i l l only be exchanged for
wages if it represents resources that the workers
have to get their way—i.e. if they are not easily
replaceable, a n d if they are able to organize j o b
action w h e n it is necessary to preserve their
position.
W o m e n should not assume that when the state
moves to increase the length of training, it w i l l
necessarily benefit women by increasing the
employer's perception of their s k i l l and the difficulty of access. Changes may occur because the
existence of a surplus of workers makes it possible for employers to demand more for the same
wages. For example, clerical workers w i t h u n i versity degrees may be preferred by some employers, but job descriptions and wage rates
remain the same. Even when it constitutes an
attempt by an occupational group to upgrade
the image of the work a n d l i m i t access, the effect
may be small. Daycare workers for example, are
increasingly required to f u l f i l l training a n d
licensing requirements and this is supported by
daycare workers w h o want to have their skills
recognized, but their power to demand better
wages is l i m i t e d by the structure of f i n a n c i n g for
daycare.
T h i s analysis suggests that we s h o u l d not
accept the n o t i o n that the only way to become a
skilled worker is to do the jobs men do, the way
men do them. Organizing to demand recognition
of the skills involved i n women's labour is critical, u s i n g strategies l i k e equal pay for w o r k of
e q u a l value. E v e n w i t h more programs designed to move w o m e n into what have been
male areas of work, we can assume the workplace w i l l remain largely segregated for a l o n g
time. O n e of the ways to increase the wages a n d
improve w o r k i n g conditions for w o m e n is to
demand recognition for the skills a n d jobs we
have.
NOTES
1.
I would like to thank Nancy Jackson for many discussions
which have helped me clarify the ideas in this paper.
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'Mahone Bay Churches" by Carol Olson, Blue Rocks Studio Gallery
Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia