‘Character matters’ – how do measures of non-cognitive skills shape understandings of social mobility in the global North and South?

Camfield, Laura ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0165-9857 (2015) ‘Character matters’ – how do measures of non-cognitive skills shape understandings of social mobility in the global North and South? Social Anthropology, 23 (1). pp. 68-79. ISSN 1469-8676

Microsoft Word (Camfield_EASA paper REVISED) - Accepted Version Download (63kB)

Abstract

The paper highlights growing interest in measures of non-cognitive skills which are shaping debate on poverty and social mobility in the global North and South. I use examples from an entrepreneurship programme in South Africa and the 'Character and Resilience manifesto' in the UK to argue that non-cognitive skills are being incorporated in a narrative of the shortcomings of 'the poor'. The characteristics of the poor, or their ‘non-cognitive skills’, are measured in ways that are ethnocentric and insensitive to class. The results of these measurements are presented as an explanation of their poverty, drawing attention away from the political and economic systems in which they are embedded.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	non-cognitive skills,poverty,measures,education,uk,south africa
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Gender and Development Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Impact Evaluation Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Life Course, Migration and Wellbeing University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2015 06:13
Last Modified:	03 May 2024 07:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/52471
DOI:	10.1111/1469-8676.12103

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item