Despite the importance of researching skills, the understanding of what is meant by skills, especially in the context of changing work futures for young people, is hugely contested. Consensus converges around a notion of skills as “knowing how”, which refers to the technical abilities to do; “knowing what”, which refers to the knowledge and understanding that underpins the doing; and “dispositional” aspects that include the socio-cultural aspects that shape what is accepted as an appropriate way of being in a particular work environment. Furthermore, when investigating skills, it is essential to focus on both the demand and supply side of skills and to consider skills as existing as part of larger contextual and institutional formations rather than as the competencies of atomised individuals.

These skills formations are shaped by socio-economic and cultural systems and are embedded in relational systems of knowledge and materials transfer and use. In addition, while government, school and NGO skills (and career guidance) programmes abound, it is critical to ask experts and young people whether the initiatives designed to guide young people into the future have the desired effect. The research in this cluster focuses on the complex dynamics of skills development, changing conditions in the labour market, and workforce development in South Africa’s evolving socio-economic landscape. It examines the processes and outcomes of skilling across multiple dimensions: from institutional provision to labour market integration and sustainable livelihoods, including work on youth employment, skills planning, skills development policy implementation and workforce readiness in the context of technological advancement (4IR/5IR).

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, NEWS AND UPDATES