Sociological perspective on skills and qualifications There are many ways in which the process of skill formation can be socially organized; this process differs substantially even in advanced economies at similar levels of technological development. Many abilities and skills necessary and useful for life are learned from early childhood onward in daily interaction with parents, other adults, and peers, or through the exposition to and use of communication media. In this chapter, however, we are mainly interested in the formation of abilities and skills required to perform work tasks in jobs, and we examine the returns of qualifications in work contexts. Whereas in psychology and education science, skills and competences are often understood as specific cognitive or other capabilities of individuals to solve particular problems and/or perform particular tasks, sociology usually has amuch broader understanding of them. The sociologist’s understanding is probably best captured in the concept of qualification. The latter refers to sets of skills needed to perform more or less homogeneous sets of tasks, for instance, for a particular job or profession. In most research, the conceptualization of qualifications and their measurement then refers to the successful completion of particular programs in institutions of (general) education and vocational training in a society. Thus, the sociological understanding of skills or competences in the sense of qualifications is to a large degree institutionally shaped and socially and culturally constructed. © Cambridge University Press 2008 and Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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