There are few ideas that have generated such a wide international consensus as the global knowledge economy. The most valuable resource for economic competitiveness is increasingly seen to reside in the skills, knowledge and talents of employees. Because of this, over the last 10 years, leading companies have allegedly been engaged in a global ‘war for talent’ (Michaels et al 2001) to attract the ‘brightest’ and the ‘best’ employees.

This paper explores the social and cultural dimensions of this ‘war for talent’ through comparative research within the UK and France on the attributes, perceptions and experiences of elite graduates and elite employees.

Aims and objectives

The principal aim of this paper is to illuminate the social and institutional processes which are being marshalled in the ‘war for talent’. More specific objectives are:

o   To show how the definition of ‘talent’ is historically, geographically and socially contingent;

o   To explore the relationship between meritocratic- and talent-based definitions of reward;

o   To identify the processes through which elite educational institutions and their students foster and display ‘talent’;

o   To identify matches and mismatches between graduate students’ and elite employers’ definitions of ‘talent’.

Theoretical framework

The conceptual starting point of the research reported here is that the ‘war for talent’ will be intimately connected to existing patterns and processes of social and cultural reproduction. The division of labour (and its uneven rewards) within this global knowledge economy does not, therefore, reflect the rational allocation of ability and effort but arises from existing systems of privilege and the exclusionary tactics of elites.

However, in framing our research within theories of social and cultural reproduction, we do not wish to suggest that these processes are inexorable and inevitable. The change from a meritocracy-based ideology of reward to one based on ‘talent’ may intensify positional conflict. Moreover, the global knowledge economy takes different forms in different contexts and notions of ‘talent’ are likely to be geographically and socio-culturally contingent. The contingent and arbitrary nature of these processes can be illuminated through comparative research.

Most comparative research currently tends to focus on shifts within and flows between Anglophone countries. These comparisons often presume a shared definition of ‘talent’, a relatively common understanding of the currency of qualifications and a recognition of the status of particular kinds of educational pathways. However, comparison between the UK and France illuminates the cultural specificity of the ‘war for talent’ and the contingent nature of the linkages between education and the labour market. The research on which this paper is based explores these cultural differences through qualitative enquiry which involves in-depth interviews with key protagonists in the ‘war for talent’

Michaels, E., Handfield-Jones, H. & Axelrod, B. (2001) The War for Talent. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.