| Unit name | Work in Capitalist Society: Change and Continuity |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EFIMM0133 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Pesterfield |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Management - Business School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Workers around the world currently face a range of issues and potential threats. This includes the role automation and AI is often predicted to play in replacing workers; inequalities based on gender, race, and class; vulnerabilities faced by migrants; and those who are overworked, such as 996 work culture in China, or those who are underemployed. This unit seeks to understand, evaluate, critique and address these issues from a range of theoretical perspectives, and investigates how work is understood by (human resource) managers, academics, policymakers and numerous other actors. It does so to inform the decisions made by those who are able to shape the future of work, and how organisations, institutions, laws and norms inform the development of new and alternative ways of doing and organising work.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Within the context of the MSc Human Resource Management and the Future of Work, this unit provides a valuable workplace perspective on a range of contemporary issues facing even those workers whose jobs constitute decent work. As such, students will be able to engage with some of the biggest issues facing current and future generations of managers and policymakers in relation to work.
An overview of content
The content of the unit covers the identification of some of the key issues facing workers, both today and in the future, in capitalist societies. This includes investigation of the impact of automation and AI on work; workplace inequalities based on gender, race, and class; the issues faced by migrants; and the impact of those who are overworked, such as 996 work culture in China, or those who are underemployed because they are unable to fully utilise their skills, experience, or qualifications. The unit will explore these issues from a range of theoretical perspectives that aid analysis of how capitalism functions, and how this political economic context shapes work.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Through studying this unit, students will have an enhanced knowledge of key workplace issues in contemporary capitalist societies, in addition to understanding the complexities involved in addressing these challenges. As a result, students will have developed their research, writing, critical thinking, and analytical skills, as well as their ability to find appropriate solutions to difficult problems.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the unit, students will be able to:
Teaching is conducted through ten weekly lectures (two hours) and seminars (one hour). The lectures are a mixture of teaching and interaction, and seminars are student-centred. This approach is taken in order to provide students with two important elements to their learning. On the one hand, this approach provides students with explanations and applications of theories as well as up-to-date examples and case studies. On the one hand, there is the opportunity for students to engage, ask questions, provide their views, and discuss and debate what they learn each week with their peers. This constates practice for the development of arguments that will be invaluable for the summative assessment. There is also weekly reading from journal articles chosen to represent a wide range of workplace issues, including 996 and management work cultures in China, graduate employment, gender, race, and class challenges, and more. These are up-to-date research papers that will provide students with the most recent developments and knowledge on the topics covered. There are also advice and feedback hours each week, which provides students with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the classroom.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Formative assessment is comprised of a 500-word piece of writing on an issue related to one of the weekly topics covered on the unit. This provides students with the opportunity to think about their summative assessment, in terms of what workplace issue they would like to address, and to receive feedback on their suggested topic.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
An essay discussing a work-related issue relating to one of the topics covered in the unit (2000 words), 100%, ILOs 1-3.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, failed components will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis. The assessment will be the same: an essay discussing a work-related issue relating to one of the topics covered in the unit (2000 words), 100%, ILOs 1-3. However, students must choose a different workplace issue to the previous submission.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EFIMM0133).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
