Session Information
99 ERC SES 07 C, Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Even though 750 millions classify as vulnerable, vulnerable workers with generally lower levels of human capital, are scientifically understudied As a result of a literature review, vulnerability has been widely used in VET as a synonym for being disadvantaged, stereotyped, marginalized, or theorized and conceptualized loosely or not at all. The theoretical concept of vulnerability allows the link between VET and social justice, here conceptualized as educational equity, to be captured. The term vulnerability represents that oppression is structurally present in all systems, including workplace education. (Lopez-Fogues, 2016).
Vulnerability is not understood as only physically, but as relational vulnerable in the context of its social situatedness (Burghardt et al., 2019). This tries to capture individuals as well as groups as being part of bigger systems of power and hierarchies, which are being re-produced, re-negotiated and re-discussed in interpersonal relationships which leads to differing levels of vulnerability. Organizations and practices, such as VET, play a double role in a) constituting and b) depending on social infrastructure (Scheibmayr, 2023).
Limitations of certain groups, such as vulnerable workforce, are usually not considered when designing training (Carvajal Muñoz, 2022). If recognised as a concept in VET, it can be used as an anthropological category which inevitably brings the pedagogical obligation to avoid violation (Burghardt et al., 2019).
In order to conceptualize vulnerability in vocational education and training (VET) at both the individual and the organizational level, the question arises as to whether existing theories, focusing on work-based learning (WBL) theories, are applicable. The idea is to identify common conceptualizations and theorizations of vulnerability in VET in order to reconceptualize it's value as a tool for exploring the underlying social structure of organizational practice in VET, with a focus on WBL. Following the example of Corlett et al. (2019), vulnerability should be used here as an alternative, more humane idea of the individual learner in VET. This can offer an alternative way of seeing human limits and provide alternative discourses to the dominant neoliberal ones.
Method
This project is planned to be of a conceptual form. Theoretical relevance is given by the fact that relevant research is still at an exploratory and theory-building level concerning vulnerable workforce in general (Restubog et al., 2021, 2023; VETNET, 2023). To fully do justice to vulnerable workforce, any vulnerabilities have to be considered in conjunction with the concept of intersectionality (Gilodi et al., 2022). Another challenge comes with the aimed group itself, as it makes deepened ethical considerations necessary (Restubog et al., 2023). This comes due to the fact that the use of the vulnerability concept may reproduce paternalistic patterns as well as stereotypes and may give authority to certain agencies (Scheibmayr, 2023) or may be misused as a tool for oppression or control (Gilodi et al., 2022). The work can be categorised as post-structuralist, as it uses Butler's concept of vulnerability and refers to Foucault's question of how people become subjects in many theoretical constructs. The aim is to overcome categorical and conceptual dichotomies. (Ricken & Balzer, 2012).
Expected Outcomes
The contribution is used on several levels. It can be used as epistemology, ontology or ethics and can therefore contribute to a broader research agenda in VET. As VET is at the intersection of work and education, it is important to understand the challenges associated with vulnerable workers in order to identify whether personal or contextual elements contribute to workers' vulnerability. Vulnerability as a concept is valuable here as it theorises shared interdependence and dependence on social infrastructure. (Scheibmayr, 2023). The relevance lies in the fact that vulnerability as a workplace issue contributes to the development of social justice (McWhirter & McWha-Hermann, 2021). It may also be of organisational relevance, as preventing access to HRM practices and skills development may reproduce (educational) inequality (Amis et al., 2020; Piasna et al., 2013). Therefore, the findings of this study may have implications for human resource development, especially concerning educational programmes, which may lead to the implementation of more inclusive and equitable training programmes.
References
Burghardt, D., Dederich, M., Dziabel, N., Krebs, M., Lohwasser, D., Noack Napoles, J., Stöhr, R., & Zirfas, J. (2019). Die Frage der Vulnerabilität. Eine Einleitung. In R. Stöhr, D. Lohwasser, J. Noack Napoles, D. Burghardt, M. Dederich, N. Dziabel, M. Krebs, & J. Zirfas, Schlüsselwerke der Vulnerabilitätsforschung (S. 1–14). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20305-4_1 Carvajal Muñoz, M. R. (2022). Training policy among vulnerable unemployed groups: Its contextualisation and difficult relationship with the capabilities approach. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2022.2159860 Corlett, S., Mavin, S., & Beech, N. (2019). Reconceptualising vulnerability and its value for managerial identity and learning. Management Learning, 50(5), 556–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507619865650 Gilodi, A., Albert, I., & Nienaber, B. (2022). Vulnerability in the Context of Migration: A Critical Overview and a New Conceptual Model. Human Arenas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00288-5 Guile, D., Unwin, L., Brown, C., McMullen, M. B., File, N., Hall, G. E., Gollnick, D. M., Quinn, L. F., Shapiro, H., Saltman, K. J., Means, A., Beach, D., Bagley, C., Metzger, S. A., Harris, L. M., Jeynes, W., Hughes, M. T., Talbott, E., Waite, D., … Surry, D. (o. J.). The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training. Restubog, S. L. D., Deen, C. M., Decoste, A., & He, Y. (2021). From vocational scholars to social justice advocates: Challenges and opportunities for vocational psychology research on the vulnerable workforce. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 126, 103561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103561 Restubog, S. L. D., Schilpzand, P., Lyons, B., Midel Deen, C., & He, Y. (2023). The Vulnerable Workforce: A Call for Research. Journal of Management, 49(7), 2199–2207. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063231177446 Ricken, N., & Balzer, N. (Hrsg.). (2012). Judith Butler: Pädagogische Lektüren. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-94368-8 Scheibmayr, I. (2023). Organizing vulnerability exploring Judith Butler’s conceptualization of vulnerability to study organizations. Gender, Work & Organization, gwao.13103. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13103
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