[Themaintainers] Essential Work

[Andrew Russell]

Ed, thanks so much for sharing this.  I find this subject endlessly fascinating: for both personal/family reasons, scholarly reasons, and also since workforce development is a significant part of what we’re doing at my university (SUNY Polytechnic). 

I wrote about this subject for a workshop on Knowledge Infrastructures that was organized at UCLA last year <http://knowledgeinfrastructures.org/>, by a team led by Christine Borgman - my last trip before shutdown (*sniff*). Lee and I also touched on it in The Innovation Delusion, highlighting the contrast between high-prestige “innovative” occupations and lower-prestige occupations (many of which, as Mike Rowe noted in the segment, have been recast as “essential” during the pandemic).

Here’s my brief paper from that workshop, responding to prompts from the organizers: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8j8466b7. 

I’d be really interested to chat with people who could be tempted to join forces to do more research/writing/advocacy about these issues - or to get connected with people or groups who are already doing just that. 

Take care everyone - 

Andy





_____

Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D.
+ Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
+ Co-Director, The Maintainers <https://themaintainers.org/>
+ Co-Author, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most <https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576816/the-innovation-delusion-by-lee-vinsel-and-andrew-l-russell/>

> On Feb 18, 2021, at 9:06 PM, Ed Summers <ehs at pobox.com> wrote:
> 
> I thought of The Maintainers while watching this segment on the PBS
> News Hour tonight. Maybe you'll like it too.
> 
> With millions looking for work, stigmas create a dearth of skilled
> tradespeople / Paul Solman
> 
> https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/with-millions-looking-for-work-stigmas-create-a-dearth-of-skilled-tradespeople
> 
> "The push for one form of education in my view really was the beginning
> of a long list of stigmas, myths and misperceptions that to this day
> dissuade millions of kids from pursuing a legitimate opportunity to
> make six figures in the trades."
> 
> "There are entire categories of work that are shrouded in mystery and
> if we don't demystify them and destigmatize them we're going to be
> waiting for plumbers and electricians for a long, long time."
> 
> //Ed
> 
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