4 EDUCATION AND LABOUR

Dr. Manjunatha S.

Introduction

In this module an attempt is made to analyse the relationship between education and labour. The type of education one receives has a close bearing on the nature of work one takes up. The two activities are mutually inter-dependent and also influence each other.

Meaning and Scope of Education

Education is one of the basic institutions in all human societies. The continued existence of a society depends upon the transmission of culture of that society from one generation to another. It is essential that knowledge relating to the values, beliefs and livelihood practices must be passed on to every new generation. Education also trains members of a society to adopt and adjust with the ways of the world around.

Etymologically, the word ‘education’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Educare’ which means ‘to bring up’, ‘to rear’ or ‘bring forth’. Webster defines education as the process of educating or teaching. Education is also a channel for skill acquisition, as knowledge per se may not help human beings to lead a quality life (Merriam-webster.com). One must also work to earn one’s livelihood and education bestows the skills required for carrying on different occupations, which not only provide the ‘goods’ and ‘services’ required for sustaining a society, but also confers the economic power required for achieving social mobility.

Whenever we think of education we are generally reminded of the activity that goes on in schools, colleges and research institutions. But education in its broader perspective means much more than this. As a process, education is a continuous activity that goes on throughout one’s life. Education creates an opportunity for every human being to identify and develop those potentialities which are required for sustained growth of human societies through a process referred to as socialisation. In that sense all social institutions serve as agencies of education.

What takes place in schools and colleges, in a structured environment and based on a well-defined curriculum and class schedule is referred to as ‘formal education’. However, there exists in the formal setting a scope for informal training, as learning can take place in informal settings even in a formal institution. In fact, what the pupil learns outside the class room may have a more significant bearing on personality development, than that learning which takes places in class room settings.

Formal education generally has a desired end and is imparted in rigid settings, but out of school experiences are equally important in widening our knowledge about real life situations. Informal education denotes the deliberate, spontaneous, lifelong process of learning that takes place in all social institutions. This education is also basic to gaining an understanding of the world around. In fact a child’s first interaction with the world of work comes through informal education. Since we spend more time in social institutions than schools or colleges the experiences gained in different social institutions play a very critical role in our personality development.

Meaning and Nature of Labour

The term labour is used interchangeably with words such as ‘work’ and ‘occupation’. Labour in its most general sense, refers to productive human work, which includes both physical and mental work. It refers to the economic resource that includes all forms of human effort which results in the production of a good or service in exchange for a wage or salary. Labour can be defined as a social class comprising those who work for wages. Through much of history, labour was not treated as a commodity that was ‘paid for’. In early human societies based on food gathering and hunting economies labour was not compensated by wages, but the benefits emanating from labour were shared between members. The principle of barter or ‘exchange of goods for goods or services for services’ governed human activity.

In any society labour is the life source and hence without labour no human being can survive or prosper. However, forms of labour differ from one society to another and from one culture to another. There are also regional variations in the type of labour one performs. In tribal societies, for example labour exists in a very simple form. Work is distributed among its members on the basis of a system of simple division of labour, and is based on such factors as gender and age. In this type of society also education plays an important role in determining the nature of work its members perform. In simple societies, a particular task was assigned to an individual by a group by taking into account his/her skills, physical capacity and experience. As societies grew larger and more complex, labour became more specialised. Here work roles are clearly defined and based on a very complex division of labour.

In modern societies educational qualification, degrees, mastery or expertise in a particular stream are all important in order to get work. Each person becomes an expert at doing just a few things or even just one thing. Specialisation makes workers more productive. Occupational development as well as gaining expertise are directly related to education. In modern society there is a close association between labour and formal education.

Birth into a particular caste either conferred the privilege to engage in certain occupations, or denied that opportunity to others. It is only after the advent of modern education and efforts by social reformers that occupations started opening up to all castes. However, even to this day, especially in rural areas the stigma attached to certain types of work still continues and only groups placed in the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy are forced to perform these tasks, prominent examples being scavenging, skinning or clearing rawhide or carrying night soil.

The Relationship between Education and Labour

The relationship between education and labour has been brought out by Young (2004) by identifying four major functions of education, vis-à-vis labour. These are:

·      Transformative Function

·      Allocative Function

·      Differentiative Function and

·      Selective Function

Each of the four functions has been explained in the following paragraphs.

Transformative Function

Education transmits values and skills that are required for the sustenance of a social system and by doing so preserves social order. When these values and skills become obsolete with the passage of time, new skills and values replace them. With the growth of modern economy, socio-economic structures become more complex and specialised. Education is called upon to turn out trained personnel equipped with information, knowledge, skills and values required for fulfilling a variety of new roles and jobs and also at different levels. Thus, the economy, as a consumer of the educated product, wields considerable influence on the levels, specialisations and content of education. This is usually achieved through the political and administrative apparatus. The knowledge, skills and values acquired through education not only meet the economic needs of society; they are also permeated with a social content corresponding to the existing socio-economic and political structure and the consequent social stratification and distribution of power in society.

Allocative Function

Another key function of education is the allocative function. The educational process, with its different specialisations, different levels and certification processes lays down the standards for not only measuring a person’s expertise in a given field but also deciding ‘who can do’ what type of work. In that sense, it legitimises the existing distribution of positions, the resulting out socio-economic gains and power allocations by convincing the losers or relative losers that their failure in life is due to their failure to acquire or reach a certain level of education. Since the acquisition of a particular job status is associated with the possession of certain abilities, which only education can bestow, the value placed on education rises. It is this situation which creates a greater demand for specialised courses, which in turn leads to the expansion of the education system.

Differentiative Function

The third function of education is the ‘differentiation’ function. Education prepares individuals for a particular style of life characteristic of a status group. It acts as a differentiating agency as it seeks to maintain and supply appropriately socialised individuals to each strata. Such a differentiating function is more pronounced in a society with a rigid system of stratification. Since status is closely associated with the work one performs, education acts as a status giver in society.

Selective Function

The selective function is more visible in open class societies. In such a system achievement is connected with the positions that in their totality makeup the social structure. Positions, take their own shape from the habitual practice and the cultural patterns of the institutions that compose that particular society. Three things follow accordingly:

a) the positions appear to have certain permanence

b) the positions appear to be separable from their incumbents

c) the positions are continually vacated and filled again and the incumbent of the position associated with it

must undergo the special socialisation procedures that prepare for it. In that sense education selects

persons to occupy certain positions in society.

In the current scenario the relationship between education and labour is very complex. However, since the beginning of civilisation this relationship has existed in one form or the other. Further, in modern societies the relationship between these two is assuming more dynamic and complex proportions. In the ever changing economic scenario, access to many forms of employment has become extremely competitive and market driven forces have virtually seized the labour market. Today upward occupational as well as social mobility is endorsed by education. Education largely defines the type of employment one has to take up. Since the selection of a job by a person or the selection of a person for a job is today the direct consequence of the level of specialisation one is able to achieve through education, the relationship between education and labour becomes stronger day-by-day. In fact it is education that prepares individuals to enter the labour force by equipping them with special skills and also instilling in them the capacity to meet the challenges of the job market. Education, on the one hand includes vocation related training and on the other builds the different aspects of an individual personality.

Education and Labour: Mutually Inter-related Factors

Education is frequently seen as a crucial policy instrument in the fight against economic deprivation as it helps individuals to access better jobs that raise their financial capacities and thus contribute to the improvement in the quality of their lives. Education enhances productive capacities of not only prospective employees but also strengthens the capacities of employers. Worker competition is a situation which can have a positive impact on the labour quality. Education has a direct bearing on enhancing labour efficiency.

The interrelationship between education and labour can be understated in more than one way.

Some of the important faces of this relationship are shown below:

Years of schooling: A considerable amount of work on the direct impact of education on labour deals with the number of years a person spends in school. There is indeed a direct relationship between the experience one acquires in work and years of schooling.

Educational level attained: The educational level attained has net effects on occupational status. Higher the education level, the more substantial is the advantage one gains in his/her occupation. A college education, for example opens up better opportunities for acquiring a higher occupational status than mere school level education.

Attainment of a particular credential: Being a good worker is not just about acquiring a degree or diploma only. It is about acquiring certain credentials (values, habits, aspirations) which are equally important in enhancing an employee’s potential in a work situation. Education also has the capacity to build these credentials which enhance worker performance and behaviour. Vocational credentials may specifically signify that an individual is formally qualified (i.e., has completed the requisite training) for a particular job. But in professions requiring certain higher level credentials the role that education can play in personality building assumes greater significance.

Certification mechanism: Both education and labour are systems that are mutually dependent. But for any employer to develop an organisational structure, support from an educational system that trains, qualifies and certifies its stake holders is necessary. In this sense without a properly equipped educational system jobs can neither be created not sustained.

Investments in education: Investments in education help broaden access to education and hence facilitate access to skills. Skills enable persons to get better jobs and achieve higher standards of living. In this sense skilled workers re-invest their knowledge and competence in economic development.

Sector of activity: The wage structures in the private sector reflect the impact of education on worker productivity more than they do in the public sector. A classic example is the change that has taken place in wage packages in the private sector during the last 20 years in India after the onset of the liberalisation era.

Employment/ unemployment: Better-educated people typically have lower unemployment rates as, unemployment rates decline with increasing levels of education. Moreover, those with higher educational attainment have greater ‘ability to benefit from disequilibria’, while the least qualified workers are the most vulnerable to unemployment during economic downturns.

Worker productivity: At the individual level, increased education increases worker productivity securing better employment and enhanced lifetime earnings for the individual.

Nature of work: Individuals with higher education are more likely to be involved in work because of inherent intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. For example, more educated individuals are less likely to be involved in alienating repetitive labour and more likely to be involved in work that permits greater autonomy, creativity, more novelty and opportunity. When there is continued learning and personal growth greater special support which in turn enhances resilience to psychological distress, depression, and anxiety is created.

Worker’s health: Education appears to have positive effects on the state of worker’s health. Higher education typically helps people to pursue occupations that involve lesser health risks while at the same time providing greater financial capacity to purchase better housing, nutrition, and health care.

Gender, Education and Labour

In a sociological analysis of the relationship between education and labour it is important for you to gain an understanding of the intersectionality that exists between gender, education and labour. More women than men are likely to remain outside formal educational systems both due to cultural and economic compulsions and hence have far fewer opportunities than men to take up well -paying jobs. It is also true that even in many cases where women have received higher levels of education and possess all the requisite qualifications required for entry into qualified labour force due to familial obligations they are forced into a state of domestication.

In the unorganised sector of labour, one can see huge differentials based on gender. For the same type of jobs, with equal or even lower educational attainment, women are often paid lower wages than men. The agriculture sector is a classic example of these wage differentials in work. It is also true that jobs that are typically considered female are paid lower wages.

Studies relating to wages of women in organised sector have often displayed conflicting results. While Lamb (2001) observed that differences in earnings are generally due to the differences in the jobs they found. Psacharopoulos (1988) and Tansel (1994) found that overall women’s returns from education are higher than those of men as women experience greater positive effects of each additional year of education than men. More sociological studies based on empirical investigation of different categories of occupations are required to examine the true nature of gender differentials in the labour market.

Theoretical Insights on the Relationship between Education and Labour

In the section that follows an attempt is made to analyse a few such theories that bring out the relationship between education and labour.

Human Capital Theory

The contribution of education to production, and therefore to economic growth and its value as an ‘investment’ for individuals and society, has been one of the central concerns of both Sociology of Education and Economics of Education. During the 1960s, the dominant theory concerning the relationship between education and employment was the ‘Human Capital Theory’ (Becker, 1964).

According to this theory economic factors alone are not sufficient to explain the growth taking place in society. There exists a residual factor which must correspond to the human element, and in particular, to education. Investment in education and training can only increase the skills and capacities of those concerned. These skills and capacities, which are rare commodities, increase productivity, particularly in the modern sector.

Employers compensate the proprietors of these commodities with economic rewards. The level of his/her earnings gives a fair indication of the productivity of a given employee, and market activity ensures that rare skills are assigned to the productive sector.

The central idea of the Human Capital Theory is that individuals invest for their future by making a rational estimate of the returns of education, and then orient their careers in consequence. Individual estimates may be transposed to the collective scale by integrating the overall costs of education. Estimating the rates of return enables the optimum development potential of different levels and forms of education to be evaluated, and thus becomes a tool for planning.

Since the 1970s, the Human Capital Theory has come under heavy criticism, and has led to the formulation of other theories. These have all been systematically reviewed by M. Blaug (1976 and 1985). He emphasises the fact that the concept of human capital was developed in the United States at a time of expansion and optimism, and inquires whether it would remain valid in very different contexts. Analysing the different studies which provided the basis for the theory of human capital and its successive extensions (from continuous training to primary instruction by level, special field and type of establishment), he remarks that in several cases there are insufficient data, fragile hypotheses and anomalies in the results.

Theory of Screening Hypothesis

The theory of screening hypothesis (Michael Spence) of labour market gives a different framework for analysing the relationship between education and labour. It is based on the presumption that the ‘higher educated are more productive’. This theory does not perceive education as a tool for enhancing skills of individuals, but sees it as a ‘screening devise’. In other words education is seen as an instrument that helps in the identification of talented and productive labour. The “screening” theory is accompanied by considerations of the risk of educational inflation, since inflation of this nature in no way alleviates the pressure of demand in a job-queuing situation. But M. Blaug’s interpretation (1985) that this concerns operative-type behaviour in a Taylorist-type organisation no longer seems to apply to recent developments in the organisation of work and in skills.

Theory of Segmented Labour Market

19th century political economist John Elliott Cairnes founded the theory of Segmented Labour Market on the basis of Marxian framework of labour. The argument here is that labour is divided into ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ sectors. Modern labour consists of new technologies of production, high earnings and security in work. Traditional labour is characterised by old technologies of production, low earnings and no work stability. Educational qualifications of individuals differ significantly in the two sectors.

Marxian Perspective on Education

In capitalist society labour is significant in the process of production. In this set up these labourers need to possess a certain type of expertise or skills, which are imparted through education. Karl Marx tried to establish the relationship between education and labour.

The relationship between the level of labour productivity and skills and training was brought out by Franco-German Studies which observed that there was a close relation between the lower productivity of the British companies and the lower skill levels of their personnel (Steedman 1987). Further, an interesting aspect of these studies is the nature of this relation. The availability of educated manpower could encourage companies to adopt other modes of organisation and even other types of production.

The findings of many research studies explicitly reveal that the role of education has an impact on labour in particular and economy in general. It is probably more helpful to view the relationship between education and employment through a more qualitative assessment of changes that have occurred in the content of work and in the corresponding skills and of the way in which employers have taken account of these changes. In other words, attention needs to be directed towards qualifications, although we need to remember that this term may lead to confusion since it may mean:

(a)  the skills required to do a job; (b) the skills that a worker possesses (linked mainly to his or her training); or (c) skills that are recognized in the labour market.

Impact of Technological Growth on Shifts taking place in Education and Labour

While analysing the relationship between education and labour, you must also try to understand the changes taking place both in the education system and the employment sector as a result of the new jobs that are being created owing to the virtual invasion of technology into the sphere of labour.

The linkage of economic, technological and organisational development has consequences of several kinds for qualification and training. The most basic change one sees is the change in employment structures. In this respect, there are two undeniable trends that are visible. The first relates to the decrease of manpower in industrial and manual jobs and a rise in tertiary employment. One sees today an increase in the number of engineers, executives, those doing intellectual work and technical specialists, to the gradual elimination of workers who do not possess these skills. Second, the work content of each of these jobs is changing, leading to new demands in terms of knowledge, skills and behaviour.

The problem of adaptation most obviously affects vocational education. Studies on the new role of technical education and vocational training point to the shifts taking place in this sector. One of the most visible among these shifts is the increase in the number of students in vocational courses, and their continuation beyond the secondary level. Training an increasing number of technical specialists, a search for flexibility and a greater capacity for response on the part of the training system seeking the reduction in the degree of specialisation and broadening the scope of training so as to make it more easily transferable and less specifically oriented towards a particular job are other changes that have occurred as a result of vocationalisation of education. The shifts taking place in the field of vocational education can be further analysed by addressing the following points:

·      Breaking-down barriers between courses

·      Creating a trend towards decentralisation

·      Establishing a rapport between school and business

·      Increasing the participation of employee’s representatives in deciding course content options and expected outcomes.

·      Development of partnerships between academic institutions and employment agencies

·      Contribution of firms to training

·      Initiating a process of continuous training so that basic education system is relieved of the need to supply trusted products ready for employment (Blondel, 1992).

The Problem of Educated Unemployment

An excess supply of educated persons over the demand for their services has been a universal feature. In India the problem can be traced to the British rule itself. With the introduction of a bureaucratic structure that placed demands for possession of certain credentials, a divide was created between those with and without these credentials. The problem implies a wasteful investment from the point of view of both the individual and state. When the state is not in a position to provide employment to individuals, investment on education results in a drain on the exchequer. In India this problem assumed enormous proportions when there was an imbalance between the growth in the number of jobs and educational institutions. Educated unemployment has broader social implications such as devaluation of education, student unrest and frustration among the educated due to unfulfilled aspirations.

Sociologists are interested in the wider social implications of the problem of educated unemployment. The term unemployment is very complex and it just means no employment. But this does not justify the concept itself because it has two forms, namely, voluntary and involuntary unemployment. Educated unemployment however, refers to involuntary unemployment. Hence, unemployment is a condition in which people who have ability and willingness to work have no opportunities to engage in gainful economic activity. Further, there is also what is known as disguised unemployment (Robinson 1937) that refers to a situation in which due to non-availability of jobs people are forced to take up jobs that do not suit their educational attainments. There are several graduates and post-graduates working as clerks and this gives a rough indication of the extent to which the problem has grown. Such a situation can also be termed as under-employment.

One must at no point of time think that all those who receive education will end up finding work that befits their qualification. With more and more persons acquiring higher qualifications, there is a disproportionate relationship between the number of jobs available and the number seeking those jobs. Such a situation may lead to three consequences, these being unemployment, under-employment and misemployment. All the three have negative and serious implications for a nation’s economic and social development.

Unemployment among educated is a part of the problem of general employment and under-employment of labour force. It is a manifestation of decreasing rates of economic growth. A major factor accounting for educated unemployment is not so much, as is often made out to be the case, the inherent differences within the educational system, but, imbalance between expansion of educational opportunities and the absorptive capacity of economy for skills that education creates. Education does not create unemployment. It only makes it highly visible, turning our attention from disguised unemployment and under-employment of the countryside to educated unemployment in urban regions. The problem of educated unemployment is often made to appear too simplistic. In order to prevent more and more persons from forming the ranks of unemployed, attention must be paid to devising innovative schemes of making the relationship between education and labour more productive and meaningful.

Within the framework of economic growth, there is a lack of articulation between planners and educators. Human resource planning often lacks focus and is unimaginative. It aims essentially at striking a balance between the supply of workers and the demand for their services. In the case of educated human resource the aim is to regulate and monitor the outflow from educated institutions so as to strike a balance between human resource need and educational turn over. Here is also a need to delink degrees from jobs by making selections performance oriented.

Conclusion

The relationship between education and labour or work is as old as human society itself. The processes through which knowledge of the work that sustained societies were transferred differed from time to time, but there was a continuity in the process by which every society ensured that different types of work (labour) that were being performed by its members was preserved for the new generations. As society became more complex, and human wants multiplied both the work and the methodologies through which members of a society were exposed to the world of work also became more specialised. The teaching – learning process which was mostly being carried out in primary groups was handed over to educational institutions specially equipped to train people for different types of work. The shift from informal modes of knowledge transmission to formal methods in institutional contexts, explains the relationship between labour and education. Across the world, factors such as age, gender, ethnic background and class determined ‘who performed what type of work’ and also ‘who had access to what type of education’. In Indian society, for example, a person’s caste background largely influenced the choice of work as well as education. In fact the position that was assigned to an individual in the caste hierarchy largely determined the nature of work a person performed. But with society moving towards egalitarianism and opportunities both in education and occupational sectors becoming more open, this rigidity gradually loosened, and today education has opened up opportunities for people from different socio-economic groups to take up jobs of varied kinds, depending on their qualification and competence. Education has emerged as a factor that both certifies and is certified by the labour market expectations and outcomes. With new shifts taking place in technology and the role that it is playing in introducing innovations both in education and work sectors, the relationship between the two has to be reviewed in a new light and from different perspectives.

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