The growing preponderance of low-wage work in America challenges the dual mission of Human Resource Development Practitioners to foster individual and organizational learning and performance. In the prevailing discourse of the learning society, individual success and mobility are available to all who assume personal responsibility and agency in the labor market. A competing discourse posits that the emerging structure of work disadvantages a growing number of workers, leading to labor market segregation and significant economic disparity. The author argues that both agency and structure interact in low-wage labor markets to create and limit opportunity for workers. The aim of this article is to locate the learning challenges faced by low-wage workers and their employers and to explore what Human Resource Development Practitioners can do to mitigate the growth of low-wage work and its individual and social consequences.
Ahlstrand, A. L., Bassi, L. J.,& McMurrer, D. P. (2003). Workplace education for low-wage workers. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development.
2.
Appelbaum, E., Bernhardt, A.,& Murnane, R. J (Eds.). (2003). Low wage America: How employers are reshaping opportunity in the workplace. New York: Russell Sage.
3.
Bai, M. (2005, January 30). The new boss. The New York Times Magazine, 38-38.
4.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
5.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
6.
Batt, R., Hunter, L. W.,& Wilk, S. (2003). Howand when does management matter? Job quality and career opportunities for call center workers. In E. Appelbaum, A. Bernhardt, & R. J. Murnane (Eds.), Low wage America: How employers are reshaping opportunity in the workplace. New York: Russell Sage.
7.
Bernhardt, A. (1999). The future of low-wage service jobs and the workers that hold them. IEE Brief No. 25. New York: Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University.
8.
Bernhardt, A., & Bailey, T. (1997). Making careers out of jobs: Policies to address the new employment relationship (No. 17). New York: Institute on Education and the Economy.
9.
Bernhardt, A., Morris, M., Handcock, M., S., & Scott, M. A. (2001). Divergent paths: Economic mobility in the new American labor market. New York: Russell Sage.
10.
Billett, S. (2004). Workplace participation practices: Conceptualizing workplaces as learning environments. Journal of Work and Learning, 16(6), 312-324.
11.
Boeree, G. C. (1997). Personality theories. Retrieved October 1, 2004, from http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/bandura.html
12.
Bush, S., Henle, T., Cohen, S., Jenkins, D.,& Kossy, J. (2002). Recruiting lower-income women into information technology careers: Building a foundation for action. Springfield, IL: Women Employed Institute.
13.
Cappelli, P. (1997). Change at work. New York: Oxford University Press.
14.
Cappelli, P. (1999a). Employment practices and business strategy. New York: Oxford University Press.
15.
Cappelli, P. (1999b). The new deal at work: Managing the market-driven workforce. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
16.
Carnevale, A. P. (1991). America and the new economy: How new competitive standards are radically changing American workplaces. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
17.
Conway, M., & Zandniapour, L. (2002). Industry-based employment programs: Implications for welfare reauthorization and key survey findings. Policy Brief. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute.
18.
DeSanctis, G.,& Poole, M. S. (1994). Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: Adaptive structuration theory. Organization Science, 5(2), 121-147.
19.
Dresser, L., & Rogers, J. (1999). Sector strategies in labor market reform: Emerging evidence from the United States. In V. Wieringen, F. Attwell, & G. Attwell (Eds.), Vocational and adult education in Europe(pp. 269-287). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
20.
Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books.
21.
Emery, F. E., & Trist, E. L. (1969). Socio-technical systems. In F. E. Emery (Ed.), Systems thinking (pp. 281-296). London: Penguin Books.
22.
Erickcek, G. A., Houseman, S. N., & Kalleber, A. L. (2003). The effects of temporary services and contracting out on low-skilled workers: Evidence from auto suppliers, hospitals and public schools. In E. Appelbaum, A. Bernhardt, & R. J. Murnane (Eds.), Low wage America: How employers are reshaping opportunity in the workplace(pp. 368-406). NewYork: Russell Sage.
23.
Evans, K.,& Rainbird, H. (2002). The significance ofworkplace learning for a “learning society.” In K. Evans, P. Hodkinson, & L. Unwin (Eds.), Working to learn: Transforming learning in the workplace(pp. 7-28). London: Kogan Page.
24.
Finger, M.,& Asun, J. M. (2001). Adult education at the crossroads: Learning our way out. London: Zed Books.
25.
Gabriel, P. E. (2003). An examination of occupational mobility among full-time workers. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education.
26.
Garrick, J. (1998). Informal learning in the workplace: Unmasking human resource development. New York: Routledge.
27.
Grubb, W. N., & Lazerson, M. (2004). The educational gospel: The economic power of schooling. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Hansman, C. A. (2001). Context-based adult learning. In S. Merriam (Ed.), The new update on adult learning theory(Vol. 89, pp. 35-51). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
29.
Harris, H. (2000). Defining the future or reliving the past? Unions, employers, and the challenge of workplace learning. Information Series No. 380. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education.
30.
High road partnership report. (2000). Washington, DC: AFL-CIO Working for America Institute.
31.
Hodkinson, P.,& Bloomer, M. (2002). Learning careers: Conceptualizing lifelongwork-based learning. In K. Evans, P. Hodkinson,& L. Unwin (Eds.), Working to learn: Transforming learning in the workplace(pp. 29-43). London: Kogan Page.
32.
Holzer, H. J. (2001). What employers want: Job prospects for less-educated workers. New York: Russell Sage.
33.
Jarvis, P. (1992). Paradoxes of learning: on becoming an individual in society(1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
34.
Jarvis, P. (2003, January). Career management paradigm shift: Prosperity for citizens, windfalls for governments. Paper presented at the Annual NATCON Convention, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
35.
Jepsen, D. A.,& Choudhuri, E. (2001). Stability and change in 25-year occupational career patterns. The Career Development Quarterly, 50(1), 3-19.
36.
Jones, D. C., Kato, T.,& Weinberg, A. (2003). Managerial discretion, business strategy, and the quality of jobs: Evidence from medium-sized manufacturing establishments in Central NewYork. In E. Appelbaum, A. Bernhardt, & R. J. Murnane (Eds.), Low wage America: How employers are reshaping opportunity in the workplace(pp. 479-525). New York: Russell Sage.
37.
Kemble, P. (Ed.). (2002). Workforce development and the new unionism. Washington, DC: New Economy Service.
38.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39.
Learning and training for work in the knowledge society. Report IV(1).(2002). Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office.
40.
Lent, R., Brown, S.,& Hackett, G. (2002). Social cognitive career theory. In D. Brown (Ed.), Career choice and development(4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
41.
Lyotard, J. F. (1979). The postmodern condition: Areport on the nature of knowledge(G. Bennington & B. Massumi, Trans.) (13th ed., Vol. 10). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
42.
Mahoney, M. (2003). What is constructivism?Retrieved October 1, 2004, from http://www.constructivism123.com/What_Is/What_is_constructivism.htm
43.
Marshall, R., & Tucker, M. (1992). Thinking for a living: Education and the wealth of nations. New York: Basic Books.
44.
Marsick, V. J.,& Watkins, K. E. (1999). Facilitating learning organizations: Making learning count. Brookfield, VT: Grower.
45.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
46.
Murray, M. (2003, August 13). After long boom, workers confront downward mobility. Wall Street Journal, p. 1-1.
47.
National Center on Education and the Economy. (1990). America's choice: High skills or low wages. New York: The Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.
48.
Neault, R. A. (2000, January 24-26). Planning for serendipity? Career management for changing times. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Consultation on Career Development, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
49.
Petraglia, J. (1998). Reality by design: The rhetoric and technology of authenticity in education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
50.
Plastrik, P., Seltzer, M. B., & Taylor, J. C. (2003). Changing labor markets: A systems approach to reform. Boston: Jobs for the Future.
51.
Riddle, E. M. (1999). Lev Vygotsky's Social Development Theory. Retrieved February 23, 2005, from http://chd.gse.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.htm
52.
Rose, M. (2004). The mind at work: Valuing the intelligence of the American worker. New York: Viking.
53.
Rosen, M. S. (1996, March). Jobs: New challenges, new responses. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 554, 27-42.
54.
Smith, D. E., & Dobson, S. (2003). Storing and transmitting skills: The expropriation of working class control. NALLWorkingPaper(No. 71). Ontario, Canada: Institute for Studies in Education, New Approaches to Lifelong Learning.
55.
Torraco, R. J. (2005). Work design theory: A review and critique with implications for human resource development. Human Resources Development Review, 16(1), 85-109.
56.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
57.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Whitman, M.V.N. (1999). New world, new rules: The changing role of the American corporation. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
59.
Yorks, L. (2004). Toward a political economic model for comparative analysis of the role of strategic human resources development leadership. Human Resources Development Review, 3(2), 189-208.
60.
Yorks, L. (2005). Strategic human resources development. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
