Learning Not to Labor: An Analysis of the Education and Work Experiences of Working-Class Men in the Cultural and Creative Industries

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Global Perspectives on Sociology of Education (Table 11)

Abstract

While many researchers reflect on the challenges faced by female CCI workers in entering the workforce, few address the allure and exclusion faced by boys of blue-collar workers in the CCI sector. These men are often perceived either as beneficiaries of workplace gender discrimination or as dominant figures utilizing individual masculine traits in creative competition. However, not all men can thrive effortlessly in the CCI sector. This study focuses on working-class male CCI students and workers, analyzing how family, school, and industry shape their class and gender identities, and exploring how these seemingly out-of-place men reinterpret, experience, and challenge class and gender norms in schools and workplaces while seeking diverse identities and self-performances.

Authors

• Chih-hsien Chen, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology

• Chiao-ling Yang, National Kaohsiung Normal University