Journal article
'Rusty, invisible and threatening: ageing, capital and employability
D BOWMAN, M Mcgann, S Biggs, H KIMBERLEY
Work Employment and Society | Sage | Published : 2016
Abstract
Levels of mature-age unemployment and under-employment are increasing in Australia, with older jobseekers spending longer unemployed than younger jobseekers. This article focuses on two key explanations of the difficulties confronting older jobseekers: human capital theory, which focuses on the obsolescence of older workers’ job skills, and ageism in employment. Drawing upon narrative interviews with older Australians, it critically engages with both these understandings. Using a Bourdieusian analysis, it shows how ageing intersects with the deployment of different forms of capital that are valued within particular labour market fields to shape older workers’ ‘employability’. By examining ho..
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The research on which this article was based was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP120100624), in partnership with Jobs Australia and the Brotherhood of St Laurence.