Work and Occupations

The concept of “skill” provides the linchpin for many debates on work. Yet occupational sociologists have seldom thought to ask what the concept means. This article reviews the literature and develops critical observations on skill research. Although recent theorists have tended to dismiss deskilling theory, the research findings remain equivocal. Despite their inability to measure compositional shifts in skill, case studies continue to play an important function. New lines of inquiry have emerged, indicating a growing consciousness of the limitations of the dominant theories of skill. Absent greater rigor in the study of skill, policy debates will proceed without a sociological contribution.

This article reviews concepts and measures of skill in the social sciences. Conceptual positions differ in the ultimate origin of bases for skill, the locus and nature of skill valuation mechanisms, the extent of social constructionist influences, and the dimensionality of skill. An emerging consensus posits two organizing dimensions: substantive complexity and autonomy control. The major research designs that include the study of skill are highly varied and complementary in their knowledge yield. The major measurement strategies have shifted in recent years from nonmeasures and indirect measures of skill to direct measures of two types: expert systems and self-report measures. The review considers in detail the major expert system, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, in terms of population coverage, aggregation bias, reliability, validity, and relationship to self-report measures.

The concept of skill plays an important role in sociological research, from studies of the labor process to debates over equal worth. This article provides a theoretical analysis of the ambiguities and difficulties involved in current sociological conceptions of skill, contrasting four distinct approaches to skill: positivist, ethnomethodological, Weberian, and Marxist. Some of the impasses in industrial sociology arguably stem from the fact that opposed traditions are using very different notions of skill or are blind to their own preconceptions regarding skill. The article draws out the implications of this for empirical research.

Conventional definitions of skill have been challenged by comparable worth. The pressures that contribute to simple definitions of skill are uncovered through an identification of the major sources of gender bias in job evaluation systems. Actual pay equity initiatives are examined to highlight the conflictual process by which new definitions of skill are socially constructed or blocked through political action. Research on comparable worth offers a unique opportunity to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the power relations that maintain the gendered character of the labor market.