Module SOCI3491: Sociology of Work and Professions

Department: Applied Social Sciences

SOCI3491: Sociology of Work and Professions

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To develop students’ awareness of the key concepts and theoretical frameworks in the sociology of work and professions.
• To apply these theoretical approaches to specific examples of work sectors, occupations and professions.
• To encourage students to think about their post-university careers and produce a personal employability portfolio, which will assist with the graduate job application process.

Content

• This module will integrate key theoretical perspectives in the sociology of work and professions with substantive examples of work and occupations. Topics covered will include:
• Work in a historical context
• Classical sociological approaches to work
• Class and work
• Ethnicity and work
• Gender and Work
• Professions
• Dirty work
• Body work
• Boundary setting at work
• Precarious labour
• Retirement

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of this module, students will have demonstrated:
• A critical awareness of the key debates concerning work and employment since the nineteenth century.
• A critical awareness of the key concepts and theoretical frameworks in the sociology of work and professions.
• A sociological framework engaging with key social and political debates concerning work and employment, such a migrant work and gendered pay.

• Upon successful completion of this module, students will have demonstrated:
• An ability to evaluate sociological arguments in the field of the sociology of work and professions.
• An ability to apply key sociological concepts and theoretical approaches to empirical examples of occupations and employment.
• An ability to critically engage with policy in the field of work and employment.
• An ability to make sociologically-informed arguments confidently in both written and oral forms.
• An ability to organise and present work in a scholarly way.

• Upon successful completion of this module, students will have demonstrated:
• An ability to communicate ideas and arguments in a clear and well-structured way in written work.
• An ability to take effective notes and synthesise information efficiently from diverse sources.
• An ability to work well both independently in self-directed study and collaboratively with colleagues.
• An ability to successful manage workload and time commitments.
• An awareness of their own transferrable skills and personal employability and of future relevant careers.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching:
• Teaching is delivered through lectures and seminars and structured around the learning outcomes detailed above.
• Lectures provide students with broad introductions to key concepts, theoretical frameworks and empirical examples in the sociology of work and professions. Lectures indicate the main issues that students should consider when undertaking independent learning and when participating in seminar discussions. Lectures encourage students to develop their skills in listening and selective note-taking.
• Seminars are structured around designated readings and a series of themes and/or questions related to both the reading and the lecture content. Seminars encourage students to develop skills in the evaluation and use of sociological theories and concepts and the formulation of theoretically-grounded arguments. Seminars also provide the space for students to engage in critical debates around current work and employment policy. Preparation for seminars encourages students to develop workload and time management, literature evaluation and synthesis and independent learning skills. Participation in seminars encourages students to develop key transferable skills such as oral communication and group work skills.
• In developing personal employability portfolios, students will be required to actively reflect on the key skills that they have gained from previous employment or participation in extra-curricular activities as well as from their degree programme. As well as forming the basis for assessment, this personal employability portfolio will allow students to synthesise their experiences and skills ready to translate into graduate level job applications and CVs.
• The fieldwork visit to a local employer (employer to be confirmed, in the North East area) provides students with an opportunity to apply the theoretical approaches learnt in the formal teaching to a ‘real world’ empirical example of a work sector. During this visit, students will be able to observe and/or ask questions about the work environment, which encourages them to develop communication and note-taking skills. This visit will also encourage students to consider their own employability. In addition, the fieldwork visit will also provide an opportunity for students with relatively limited work experience to gather information/data for the summative essay in which they examine their own relationship with the labour market. In years where we are unable to arrange a visit due to external constraints, a visitor from a specific work sector will be brought into the module for the same purpose.
• Assessment:
• A formative essay requires students to demonstrate their subject-specific knowledge of the key concepts and theoretical frameworks in the sociology of work and professions. This encourages students to demonstrate their subject-specific skills in the formulation of sociological arguments and the evaluation of sociological materials. In addition, students will also be required to demonstrate key transferable skills in literature and information searching and synthesis and written communication. The formative essay will be selected from a list of essay questions.
• The feedback students receive on their formative essay allows them to reflect on their knowledge and understanding and identify ways in which they may improve their performance.
• The summative assessment requires students to demonstrate engagement with careers and employability and their subject-specific knowledge of the key concepts and theoretical frameworks in the sociology of work and professions. To do this, students will produce a Personal Employability Portfolio and a reflection on their own relationship with the labour market. In the personal employability portfolio they will detail the career opportunities available to them and the key transferable skills that they have acquired, and would hope to acquire, throughout their degree and through their extra-curricular activities. This personal employability portfolio counts for 50% of the overall module mark. Students then produce a reflective essay in which students critically examine their own relationship with the labour market through the application of the key concepts and approaches covered in the lectures to their labour market experiences. Students can also draw on the fieldwork visit to inform their essay, particularly if they have limited experience of the labour market themselves.
• Preparation for the summative essay provides students with the opportunity to think in some depth about their employability and to produce an employability portfolio which they can use as the basis for CVs and post-graduation job applications. The summative essay itself encourages students to demonstrate their subject-specific knowledge in relating key concepts in the sociology of work and professions to their own employment experiences. It encourages students to develop subject-specific skills in evaluating sociological concepts and theories and in developing sociologically-informed arguments. The summative assessment encourages students to demonstrate transferable key skills in information and literature synthesis, written communication and self-directed study.
• Summative assessment : One reflective essay (2,500 words) which is based on the students’ work experience and/or the fieldwork visit. This essay will not be selected from a list of question but the broad ‘theme’ of the essay (for example, precarious labour or gender and work) will be taken from the topics taught. This essay will count for 50% of the module mark. A personal employability portfolio (2,000 words) in which students engage with the career opportunities open to them and the experiences and skills that they must demonstrate to make the most of these opportunities. This will count for 50% of the module mark.
• Formative Assessment: One essay (1,500 words) to be selected from a list of options.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One essay (1,500 words) to be selected from a list of options.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University