Stuck in the middle with who? The class identity of knowledge workers

Citation

Baldry C & Marks A (2009) Stuck in the middle with who? The class identity of knowledge workers. Work, Employment and Society, 23 (1), pp. 49-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017008099777

Abstract
The coming of the information age has been associated with widespread social transformation and new, or dissolved, class structures. Central to this claim is the emergence of `knowledge workers' including information technology professionals. While previous discussion has focused on the paradox faced by IT workers as both professionals and employees, this article, using empirical data from five software organizations in Scotland, examines their perceptions of class structure and their own class position. It finds that participants clearly retained varying class models of society but expressed conflict between their own self-rated class identity and that which they awarded to their occupation and profession.

Keywords
class; IT; knowledge work; middle strata; Knowledge workers; Social classes; Employees Rating of

Journal
Work, Employment and Society: Volume 23, Issue 1

People

Professor Chris Baldry

Emeritus Professor, Management, Work and Organisation