Workshop presentation; Working in the 21st century€¦ · The First Machine Age, which took place...

Working in the 21st Century: Exploring the World of Dreams and Disappointments:

David L. BlusteinBoston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA, [email protected]: @BlusteinDavid

Agenda We face a period of intense challenges and

opportunities for career practitioners◦ What are the challenges?◦ Unsteady moorings for working There are multiple ways in which working is being

transformed. I will review two major macro-level trends today:

The second machine age Long-term unemployment and

underemployment

Agenda

◦ Describing the challenges: The world of work is changing incredibly fast, with

major implications for our clients, communities, and for us, as career practitioners.

As a profession, we have been saying that the world of work is changing for the past few decades…. Now, we are not crying wolf!

To enrich the discussion, I will present narratives from a new initiative—The Boston College Working Project,

Agenda

Opportunities◦ We are at a fork in the road: We can stay the course, drill down into what we

know best. We can reinvent ourselves for a changing world—

the reinvention will be hard and will test each of us.

Take-aways

I hope that you will leave this presentation…◦ Inspired◦ Respectful of the vast changes taking place◦ Ready to learn about how to work with the

full scope of client populations◦ Mobilized to become the voices for working

people…to assume the full mantle of responsibility that is inherent to our professional lives.

Unsteady Moorings The Great Recession has evoked changes in

the world of work that we are just starting to understand.

As Mark Savickas has so thoughtfully noted, the grand career narrative, which formed the core of so many of our theories and practices, has become a dream or a figment of the past for an increasing number of people.

What will replace the grand career narrative?

The Advent of the Second Machine Age In a thoughtful new book, Erik

Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have argued that we are now entering the Second Machine Age.

The First Machine Age, which took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, completely transformed life.

The Second Machine Age has the potential to further transform our lives…and, in particular, our working lives!

The Second Machine Age

The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies” recounts changes that are radical, somewhat unexpected, and transformative:

In the early 2000s, many scholars and policy analysts felt that technology could not tackle the following issues:◦ Driverless cars did not seem viable.◦ Voice recognition on computers◦ 3-D printers◦ Computers that can write prose


As Ernest Hemingway said about how a man goes broke, “gradually, then suddenly”, technology has gone the opposite of broke—it has created what Brynjolfsson and McAfee call a time of “Brilliant Technologies.”

As Brynjolfsson and McAfee noted, the growth of technology has been quite sudden with very dramatic consequences, some of which we are just beginning to understand.


Smart phones:◦ In 2000, there were 700 million mobile phone

subscriptions in the world, with less than 30% in the developing world.◦ Currently, there are 6 billion subscriptions,

with 75% in the developing world. Of these phones, 70% are considered “feature

phones”, providing access to the internet and a camera.

◦ By 2017, smart phones will comprise 75% of all mobile phone sales


The What’s App Story:◦ The What’s App feature on smart phones

provides access to free texting within a WIFI context.◦ What’s App was purchased by Facebook for

$19 billion

◦ What’s App has 55 employees!!!!!◦ What are the implications of this for our

workforce??


The Second Machine Age and Work

The future will be awe-inspiring:◦ In the next 24 months, the planet will add

more computing power than it did in all of previous history.◦ In the next 24 years, the increase in

technology will be over thousand-fold.

What about work?

Implications of the Second Machine Age for Work and Careers Some economists believe that technological

innovations will not reduce employment opportunities.

However, the evidence seems to support the concerns that Brynjolfsson and McAfee have articulated:◦ Lower skilled jobs are being replaced by

technology.◦ And, as computers increasingly are able to engage

in pattern recognition and in other forms of artificial intelligence, more skilled jobs will be replaced.

Implications of the Second Machine Age for Work and Careers Brynjolfsson and McAfee are concerned

about the impact on work; They advanced some ideas to reduce the

impact of loss of work opportunities:◦ Nurture or celebrate special categories of work

to be done by humans only◦ Pay people via nonprofits to do “socially beneficial

tasks”◦ Start a “made by humans” labeling movement◦ Provide vouchers for basic necessities to

eliminate poverty◦ Ramp up hiring by the government

Can computers replicate our empathy, creativity, and innovative natures?

We still have the capacity to create ideas….this is our essential nature and one that cannot be replicated by computers.

Implications of the Second Machine Age for Work and Careers

Implications of the Second Machine Age for Work and Careers In my view, the major question is will there be

enough work for people who want and need to work?

Countering this concern is the growth in the peer economy—◦ People are using technology to create work

opportunities. Task Rabbit Lyft Airbnb

The situation currently is one where there is not enough work, despite some positive growth in some areas of employment and in some entrepreneurial ventures.

Another Unsteady Mooring: Unemployment and Underemployment

While the Second Machine Age has certainly contributed to the growth in unemployment, other factors are also at play.◦ The Global Fiscal Crisis◦ The Great Recession◦ Changes in public policy regarding how to

manage recessions◦ Mismatch of skills and labor market

The Crisis of Long-Term Unemployment Problems faced by the long-term

unemployed:◦ Discrimination in the job market.◦ Growing isolation, rejection, and a “blaming

the victim” culture.

What predicts long-term unemployment?

[Graph taken from http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-biggest-predictor-of-how-long-youll-be-unemployed-is-when-you-lose-your-job/]

Unemployment-Mental Health

Meta-analysis: Paul and Moser◦ Integrated results of 237

studies with nearly half a million participants.

◦ Results included the following: People who lost their

jobs experienced an increase in mental health problems

Once people became reemployed, their mental health improved Journal of Vocational

Behavior, 2009

Paul and Moser’sMeta-Analysis

Mental health problems exist in 16% of the general population and 34% of the unemployed.

Paul and Moser’sMeta-Analysis Mental health problems are more

pronounced among… ◦ Men

◦ blue-collar workers

◦ long-term unemployed

Underemployment

Includes individuals who are◦ Working in lower-paying and less skilled jobs

despite having higher levels of skills.◦ Working part-time or fewer hours than they

would prefer.◦ The Gallup poll, which defines

underemployment as including those who want to work full-time, but can only obtain part-time jobs, indicates that the underemployment rate in June was 16.6%

Unemployment and the Great Recession In my view, underneath the Great Recession,

the infrastructure of working has been dramatically transformed.

Employers are caught in a vise of increasing competition due to technological innovations and globalization.

Non-profits face a crisis of funding—in many nations, the neo-liberal economic policies have captured the public discourse and reduced spending on public service jobs.

Individual perspectives

The Boston College Working Project◦Objectives Explore the nature of working in the 21st

century, post Great Financial Crisis. Provide scholars and practitioners with an

opportunity to learn about working from the lived experience of people who are engaged in work across the life span and socio-economic spectrum Examine the nature of work from a thick

descriptive perspective

Boston College Working Project

Project Description:◦ We have interviewed 55 people; they range

from folks in the top 1% of income to people who are homeless.◦ Graduate students are transcribing and coding

the interviews.

Guiding assumptions

As articulated in the psychology-of-working framework, working has the potential to fulfill three fundamental human needs:◦ Survival◦ Relatedness◦ Self-determination

Guiding assumptions

Working, when it is going well, offers us one of the major ways to being fully alive in the world. In this new project, I describe different ways that working fulfills our sense of aliveness.

From a psychological perspective, working is essential to our well-being and essential to the well-being of communities and societies.

Initial Observations: Two Modes of Working In our review of the interviews to date, the

major theme that emerges is one of two disparate experiences of working….◦ Working for survival: This encompasses the experiences of the

unemployed, underemployed, as well as many others, including people who thoughtfully selected their career plans, but who are out of work or underemployed.

Initial Observations:Two Modes of Working Working for self-determination: Self-determination captures the sense of feeling

connected to a set of activities— Being motivated and engaged!

◦ Some of our participants were living out the American Dream.◦ They were able to develop meaningful work lives that

reflected their inner values, interests, and aspirations.◦ For many of these individuals, privilege was something

that was part of their cultural inheritance. Others worked their way up, often with a lot of help from

families, communities, and loved ones.

Two Modes of Working

Caveats:◦ People often moved between working for

self-determination and survival, depending on their access to work and training.◦ At times, people had work lives that were

focused on survival, but experienced self-determination in their artistic pursuits or avocational lives.◦ Individual volition intersects in complex ways

with affordances, resources, and barriers.

Two Modes of Working

To explore these two Americas, we will review some comments from our participants.

To organize this part of the presentation, I will describe the various ways that working can function to support our sense of being alive and engaged in life.

Being Alive: Work as a Central Role in Life For many people, working is a core aspect of

their lives. ◦ People often define themselves by their work lives,

which forms the essence of our identity.

◦ Of course, not everyone values work in the same way---difference abound based on culture and individual distinctions

Here are some thoughts about this theme from our participants….

Being Alive: Work as a Central Role in Life I'm a very hard worker. I mean I think

speaks to the fact that I went from being a secretary to being a trainer and support person to be a manager.

Then you get laid off and you just feel helpless,. So that's where am I right now I'm, and I might even get teary sometimes because I'm just really frustrated because, I'm willing to do anything and, I can't.

Being Alive: Work as a Central Role in Life It used to be you'd have a job, you go in, you work

nine to five plus hours you needed to do your project, so you'd work maybe a fifty-hour week….

Nowadays, you basically take your laptop home with you and you do your work at home as well as work in the office, as well as be available for those questions that might come up at anytime. So when they gave me the laptop, that kind of interfered with my family time.

Being Able to Survive and Thrive

At our historical core is the centrality of work in ensuring our survival:

I just wanted the money because you know I grew up poor and so many people had so many different things and I didn’t have that so I was just like I just want money, I just want to work and I just didn’t know that you have to have a good education…

Being Able to Survive and Thrive

Maybe when I was looking for jobs - and said 'what do you really love doing? One of the things I would have said is 'I love performing. I love being on stage.' Then as that guide, I would have said 'okay, now think about what you love doing and how you can combine that with what you've learned and let's try and figure out ways of making that into a career.' So I think I could have bridged the gap more easily had I had somebody there saying 'let's think about what you love and think about what you know and let's make a career out of it.

Being with Others

◦Working provides us with opportunities to be with others—to engage in relationships:

There's people who seemed to carry...I don't know, the strengths of their jobs and some charisma that you want to follow them...? As opposed to somebody who's just good and demands something of you. I'm not sure how to explain that, but most people that I enjoyed working for did really well and they expected you to do well, and you did cause you didn't want to let them down.

Being with Others

Stay connected. Stay connected. Because I think that the one thing that I didn’t do which I learned from this place (a One-Stop Career Center) is networking. Not just getting (business) cards, but connecting with people. I would keep things in a professional way and I wouldn’t share my personal information. So I always felt like you keep your work and your private life separate, but somehow they intertwine.

Being the best we can be

Working creates a sense of challenge for many. ◦ The competitive nature of working brings out

a natural striving that pushes us toward excellence, and optimally toward the fulfillment of our talents. ◦ Much as our need for survival helped to fuel

advances in nearly all aspects of life, working provides a similar role today.

Being the best we can be When I started, I was nothing. Like I was, I was

a bad seed,-- I was into like drugs and alcohol and all that stuff, I didn't have a license, I didn't have a car, I didn't have...nothing.

Since then, I've got my license, I've got a car, you know I've got all kinds of things like going for me.

I look back and I'm like wow, there is so much positive now from what I was, because of work, because I wouldn't be able to have it without work.

Being the best we can be Touching people's hearts and making the world

a better place...A lot of the work that I do is for the corporate world - pharmaceutical companies - but where I find I make the biggest difference is in the writing and in the performing. I mean, I really feel that I can tap into something really deep with my writing. That's where my heart is...In terms of the audio-visual. It's a passion and a love; it's intellectually stimulating. It's fulfilling to know that you helped create something. I love education. I love working...helping support students learning.

Being Part of Something Bigger than Ourselves

Working connects us to the world in ways that are rich and varied. ◦ Work provides us with a way of contributing

to something bigger than ourselves:◦ Selling clothes, building a start-up business,

fixing washing machines—each of these activities brings us in contact with the broader social world, and thereby gives us a feeling of “us”—a feeling of community and connection.

Being Part of Something Bigger than Ourselves

Sometimes this sense is clear when it is lost…as reflected below:◦ At my job originally when I was there, we were

doing things, we were creating, we were growing, we were building, being a part of that process was exciting. Being a part of something new and, again that gave back to the community, gave back to people, that was fun and exciting. …◦ It has changed, you lose that love of coming into

work, you lose that...that feeling as if you're achieving something or accomplishing something, and you're feeling like I'm pushing buttons and coming in, doing this and I'm not excited about it. There is no sense of community….

Being able to work without oppression and harassment

Work is the one of the main contexts in which we come into contact with the social world, which means that we have access to much of the good in the world and to much of its harshness.

While work has the potential to give us a great sense of connection and accomplishment, it can also expose us to some of the most painful aspects of life…◦ Racism◦ Sexism◦ Bullying◦ Heterosexism◦ Ageism

Being able to work without oppression and harassment I: So you feel...Do you feel challenged to reach your full potential in your work life?

P: [sighs] Most definitely, especially because of the handicaps that I have, having a prison sentence. You know, once you have that felony next to you...I don't care what people say, "After ten years it goes away..." It doesn't. It shows up in every background check that's done on you, and I have had a lot of letters of rejection as a direct result of that.

And it's disheartening because, people need a second chance, and when I...I'm self-motivated, so I'm not going back. I'm not making decision that'll cause me to go back…

Being able to work without oppression and harassment

I think I'm being looked over because of my age, being considered overqualified, even though in many cases I don't consider myself overqualified, you know? Um, there were, in one week, there were four training jobs that I applied for, didn't get called for any of them. And they were like exactly what I would've wanted, you know. And it's frustrating to know, to look at my resume, I am clearly qualified to do this and it is what I want to do and I basically said that, in my cover letters. And I didn't even get a call, so it's like what's going on?

Being Without Work

Unemployment and underemployment have become the central story about working in recent years, for good reason. ◦ I am a hard worker, I can be a extremely hard

worker and I take pride in my work and I've got nothing to look forward to, so, you feel almost paralyzed, you know. I don't know where to go, I don't know what to do right now, you know.

Being Without Work

It's like a cancer patient, you can't find anyone to talk to about it unless you find another cancer patient. Being unemployed especially for a long time is...At any party the first and second question is, "Oh what do you do?" And just...Usually now I'm used to saying, "Well I'm in career transition and I am looking for something different." Then I get away from the subject fast.

Being without work Bankruptcy I felt like a failure. There was an

emotional and mental impact on me that hit me, and it happened to be at the same time that my ex-wife was having an affair. So, the divorce was impending, the bankruptcy was impending...and my decision-making was deteriorating. That was probably the darkest time in my life, because all my identity - again, for me as a man, my identity is in my work - and you know, my marriage, and both those things were falling apart - my twin towers - were falling apart.

Being Able to Work with Dignity and Opportunity Thus far, the interview data support the

basic premises that many of us hold about the role of work in people’s lives:

Work is central for a life of dignity and opportunity.

Trends and Observations The findings underscore the obvious and also point

to some subtle and important trends:◦ The world of work has changed dramatically and is

evolving very rapidly.◦ Many people are struggling to find their way in the world◦ Work is a very big deal for people—we all knew this very

well.◦ People are feeling untethered to the world—work

provides an anchor that is not as stable as it once had been.

conceptualization of the r

Trends and Observations

Relationship between survival and self-determination◦ The movement between survival and self-

determination is not linear.◦ Most of us exist along the continuum

between survival and self-determination.◦ When survival needs are not met, people

become anxious, frightened, and often feel overwhelmed.

Trends and Observations Some people are thriving now. As reflected in macro-level data, people with

updated skills and with analytical skills are often able to enjoy success and personal satisfaction.

In addition, we have witnessed amazing resilience in some of these narratives.

However, unemployment and underemployment are ravaging people’s lives.

The contrast is painful to observe!

Implications for Career Practice

Focusing on the clients and students who have access to self-determined careers, naturally, is our strength.◦ However, we need to expand our work and

we need to change our paradigm.


What is the nature of the changing paradigm?◦ We need to help clients articulate a pathway

between working for survival and working for self-determination.◦ The future world of work may create cycles

wherein people have access to work that is meaningful and dignified at certain times, and at other times, may have to take anything they can get to survive.


Theories and practices:◦ We have wonderful theories, techniques, and

tools to help people develop work lives that reflect their interests, values, and aspirations.◦ Our tools for helping people connect work

for survival to work for self-determination are far less clear.


Where are the new paradigms?◦ A number of new initiatives are emerging that

focus on working and careers: ◦ One example: The Psychology-of-Working

Framework◦ In this paradigm, I have proposed that we

need to focus on the full spectrum of people who work, including those with less than optimal choice and volition.

Other promising paradigms

Richardson’s Counseling for Work and Relationships

Life Design Counseling (Savickas et al.) Systems Theory Framework (Patton and

McMahon) Chaos Theory (Pryor and Bright) Relational Theories (Blustein; Flum;

Schultheiss) Your new theoretical initiatives….


Some may argue that we have sufficient services for folks who are facing the need to obtain a job to meet their immediate survival needs:◦ Employment counseling (or job search

counseling)◦ This is certainly a good start, but the

challenge is to help people create pathways towards self-determination.

Practice Ideas that Scaffold Survival into Self-Determination Using the psychology-of-working framework, I have

developed some practice ideas that are increasingly more relevant during these early years of the Second Machine Age.

“That's where I'm heading now, I have two parallel things. I have a short-term goal which is getting a job and getting back in the workforce and earning that income I need to support my family.

And the long-term goal is to create a program to help others in situations where I came from which is when the child is not fitting into that box and is being marginalized, how do you help the whole family? And that's my long term goal. “

An Inclusive Counseling Framework

Setting the Stage and Developing an Alliance◦ Recall that the one of the core elements of

evidence-based practice is the development of a working alliance. Core skills… Empathy Reflection of content and affect Active engagement Perspective taking

An Inclusive Counseling Framework

Constructing Goals◦ Develop two tiers of goals Short-term—often focuses on survival needs Long-term—often focuses on self-determination

◦ Helping clients to develop survival plans that will feed themselves while also feeding their skills and exploration for self-determined careers.◦ Ensuring that clients feel dignity and empathy

when faced with the need to work for survival is essential—we need to temper our own “careerism”, which may come across as elitist and unrealistic.

Fostering Survival Needs

A recent 2014 meta-analysis by Liu, Huang, and Wang of job search interventions concluded the following:◦ Job search interventions, in general, are

effective in helping people to obtain work.◦ Job search programs are particularly effective

when they blend skills development with motivational interventions

Job Search Interventions

◦ The effective interventions tended to include the following: Teaching job search skills Improving self-presentation (includes in person

presentation as well as written materials) Boosting self-efficacy Encouraging proactivity Promoting goal setting Enlisting social support

Job-Search Interventions

Lui and colleagues suggest that the complex needs of the long-term unemployed may require:◦ Occupational skills training ◦ Interventions that focus on enhancing self-

esteem◦ Interventions that involve the entire family to

reduce stress and enhance social support

An Inclusive Counseling Practice

Skill Development◦ Historically, counselors provided their clients

with specific assistance in accessing new skills.◦ In the current era, we need to revisit this

function and bring it boldly into the 21st

century

Inclusive Counseling Practice

Critical Consciousness◦ Critical consciousness is characterized by an

in-depth understanding of the world.◦ Critical consciousness development refers to

fostering an understanding for clients about the various social, political, and economic factors that are playing a role in their lives. ◦ In effect, critical consciousness helps people

to read the world.

Critical Consciousness

◦ Fostering critical consciousness does involve engaging in more contextual discussions with clients.◦ One needs to move into this work with

delicacy and empathy.◦ However, done well, fostering critical

consciousness can… Reduce “blaming the victim” Enhance agency and collective action

Systemic Interventions

A theme running through this presentation is that we are at the crossroads as a profession.

We are faced with a working world that is changing so fast and so dramatically.

Our old approaches and tools as individual practitioners and as a professional society may no longer be viable.


We are witnessing a revolution in working.

We have an obligation to report what we are seeing and to advocate for just and fair policies with respect to work and to all of the antecedents of fair and dignified work.


We need to engage in individual and collective advocacy to enhance opportunities for people.

We are a unique group of professionals—◦ In a sense, we really “get” the importance of

work in people’s lives.◦ We have a responsibility to give voice to what

we hear in our offices and to the research that we are conducting.


What can we do?◦ As a professional association, we need to have

some difficult conversations about how we should engage in the public discourse about work, poverty, inequality, and technology.◦ We may not all agree about the strategies to

enhancing opportunity, but we probably concur with the following assumptions:

Tenets for 21st Century Career Development Access to dignified and meaningful work

is essential for the mental health of individuals and for the well-being of our communities.

People want to work—they want to create, contribute, and collaborate!

We, as a community, have a responsibility to our fellow citizens to provide opportunities for working.

Tenets for 21st Century Career Development We can identify the antecedents of

adaptive transitions into the world of work from research:◦ Good schools◦ Safe communities◦ Affordable housing◦ Access to good health care◦ A booming economy!

As citizens of our communities and nations. We need to use our knowledge, both intellectual and emotional, to advocate for full employment.

We need to advocate for the implementation of the Millenuium Development goals and the UN Human Rights charter here in the US and around the world….

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23)

Implications for Public Policy

We can choose our usual approach and continue to do great work for our clients and students

Or, we can enhance this work by engaging in the broad debates about work, technology, social justice, unemployment and underemployment, education and training, and the future of work.

My Recommendations

My Recommendations

What can we do?◦ A pragmatic social justice…. Correspond with your local and national

representatives. Write op-ed pieces Conduct research that matters Encourage your professional associations to

collaborate with one another and take on the big issues that face students, workers, and communities

My Recommendations

Exploring the world of dreams and disappointments:◦ In my view, we need to dig deep into the

passion that drew us into this field to invigorate our agenda for the coming years.◦ We are indeed witnessing many events that

seem to be out of our control.◦ However, if we choose to advocate for

dignified work for all and if we document our arguments with research and with human stories, people will listen.

Stop, Look, and Listen We need to hold up a cautionary sign, asking

people to pay attention to the impact of the Second Machine Age, unemployment, underemployment, and diminishing work opportunities.

We need to help our communities look at the consequences of lack of work…We cannot let the unemployed and the underemployed become voiceless:◦ We can help them to articulate their voices by

empowering them and collaborating with them.

Listen

We need to listen to our own hearts about these changes.

And, we need to convey these heartfelt stories to our political leaders and community leaders.

Let me close by thanking each of you for attending this session

Questions and Comments

For further information and input: Contact David Blustein◦ [email protected]

Workshop presentation; Working in the 21st century€¦ · The First Machine Age, which took place...

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