Drawing on the insights of economic sociology, 'Small
Firms and Universities: How Training Markets Are
Socially Constructed' offers a detailed account of
actor behaviour within the market for vocational
education and training. Against the background of
debates surrounding the central role of skills in
promoting success within the global economy, Daniel
Bishop questions the popular suggestion that
individuals and organisations will make rationally
(and asocially) calculated 'investments' in their
skills, education and training in order to further
their chances of success. Through a study of small
firms and universities, he presents an alternative
view of the training market: one where the
participants are embedded in a complicated web of
subjective orientations and social relations. The
discussion dissects and explores this embeddedness
and complexity, and offers a new way forward for
understanding the way in which markets for education
and training operate.
Firms and Universities: How Training Markets Are
Socially Constructed' offers a detailed account of
actor behaviour within the market for vocational
education and training. Against the background of
debates surrounding the central role of skills in
promoting success within the global economy, Daniel
Bishop questions the popular suggestion that
individuals and organisations will make rationally
(and asocially) calculated 'investments' in their
skills, education and training in order to further
their chances of success. Through a study of small
firms and universities, he presents an alternative
view of the training market: one where the
participants are embedded in a complicated web of
subjective orientations and social relations. The
discussion dissects and explores this embeddedness
and complexity, and offers a new way forward for
understanding the way in which markets for education
and training operate.