Towards a critical realist theory of labour market information
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4906Keywords:
Labour market information, LMI, Critical realism, Career theoryAbstract
Despite the importance of Labour Market Information (LMI) to career practice, there is a surprising lack of theory that focuses on LMI and how it supports career guidance. Building on previous work, especially by Staunton and Rogosic (2021), this paper will argue for a move toward a critical realist account of LMI that sees it as historically and politically positioned, rather than objectively verifiable on its own terms. This opens up new possibilities for how career practitioners can make use of LMI and fresh avenues for theory and research.
References
Alexander, R., McCabe, G., & De Backer, M. (2019). Careers and Labour Market Information: An International Review of the Evidence. Education Development Trust. Retrieved from: https://www.educationdevelopmenttrust.com/EducationDevelopmentTrust/files/1d/1d6cb559-3b09-4efd-8ea9-bceb6c447d41.pdf
Archer, M. (1982). Morphogenesis versus Structuration: On Combining Structure and Action. British Journal of Sociology 33(4): 455-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2009.01245.x
Barnes, S. A. & Bimrose, J. (2010) Labour Market Information (LMI), Information Communications and Technologies (ICT) and Information Advice and Guidance (IAG): The way forward. UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/publications/2010/Bimrose_lmi_and_ict_2010.pdf
Bhaskar, R. (1975). A Realist Theory of Science. Verso.
Bhaskar, R. (2011). Reclaiming Reality: A Critical Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy. Routledge.
Bimrose, J. (2021). Labour Market Information for Career Development: Pivotal or Peripheral? In P. Robertson, T. Hooley & P. McCash (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Career Development. Oxford University Press: pp. 283-295.
Blumberg, A. E. & Feigl, H. (1931). Logical positivism. The Journal of Philosophy, 28(11), 281-296. Available at
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2015437
Blustein, D. L., Olle, C., Connors-Kellgren, A., & Diamonti, A. J. (2016). Decent work: A psychological perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00407
CILIP (2018). CILIP Definition of Information Literacy 2018. Retrieved from: https://infolit.org.uk/ILdefinitionCILIP2018.pdf
Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(4), 510. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.43.4.510
Gorski, P. (2008). The ECPRES Model: A Critical Realist Approach to Causal Mechanisms in the Social Sciences. pp.147-94 in The Frontiers of Sociology. Brill.
Grubb, N. W. (2002). Who am I: The inadequacy of career information in the information age. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED478645.pdf
Herman, E. and Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon Books.
Holland, J. L. (1973). Making vocational choices: A theory of careers. Prentice-Hall.
Hooley, T. (2015) Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery: Self-Actualisation. Social Justice and the Politics of Career Education. iCeGS. https://derby.openrepository.com/handle/10545/579895
Hooley, T., Sultana, R., & Thomsen, R. (Eds.). (2017). Career guidance for social justice: Contesting neoliberalism. Routledge.
Law, W. & Watts, A. G. (1977). Schools, Careers and Community. Church Information Office.
Milosheva, M., Robertson, P., Cruickshank, P., & Hall, H. (2021). The role of information in career development. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 47(1), 12-20. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4703
Mollerup, C. (1995). What is good information? CIS News, Eugene, OR: National Career Information System, University of Oregon.
Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Houghton Mifflin.
Passmore, J. A. (1943). Logical positivism. The Australasian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy, 21:2-3, 65-92, https://doi.org/10.1080/00048404308541193
Peck, J., Theodore, N., & Brenner, N. (2010) Postneoliberalism and its malcontents. Antipode 41: 94–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2009.00718.x
Reed, M. (2005) ‘Reflections on the ‘realist turn’ in organization and management studies’, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 42, pp. 1621–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00559.x
Schlick, M. & Rynin, D. (1948). Positivism and realism. Synthese, 478-505.
Staunton, T. (2021). Exploring critical perspectives on labour market information through the lens of elite graduate recruitment, Higher Education Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12309
Staunton, T. & Rogosic, K. (2021). Labour market information and social justice: a critical examination. International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-021-09466-3
Sultana, R. G. (2013). Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will? Troubling the relationship between career guidance and social justice.
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 14(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-013-9262-y
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 1. In submitting an article, the Author hereby grants to NICEC the exclusive first publication right to the paper submitted by him / her for inclusion in the publication named above and the non-exclusive rights thereafter to publish and authorise the publication of all articles and all parts, adaptations and abridgements thereof in all forms and media throughout the world. 2. In consideration for the above grant of rights, and subject to delivery of acceptable material, NICEC hereby undertakes to prepare for publication and publish the paper unless prevented by circumstances beyond its control. 3. The Author agrees that NICEC may make minor changes to areas such as formatting, spelling, referencing, layout or punctuation, to ensure quality and uniformity of style. 4. NICEC agrees that the Author may share the final published PDF of their article (e.g. publication to the Author’s web profile, or institutional repository). 5. The Author warrants to NICEC that in respect of the paper submitted: (i) it does not infringe any existing copyright or licence; (ii) except where the Author, at the time of submission of the paper, notifies NICEC, the paper is original; (iii) the Author has the full power to make this assignment and that this assignment does not infringe the rights or licence of any other person, and that where there a co-author, the co-author also fully agrees to the terms in this document; (iv) the paper contains nothing defamatory or otherwise unlawful and no information has been obtained in contravention of legislation currently in force (v) submission of the paper demonstrates acceptance of all these conditions.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.