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The consumption of work: Representations and interpretations of the meaning of work at a UK university

Chertkovskaya, Ekaterina LU ; Korczynski, Marek and Taylor, Scott (2020) In Organization 27(4). p.517-536
Abstract
This paper focuses on representations of the nexus of work, meaning and consumption as experienced by university students. We develop an empirically based argument that the meaning of work is being constructed as an object of consumption on a British university campus. We suggest that this indicates two key changes in representations of the meaning of work. First, there is a significant shift in the social construction of orientations to work towards what we term ‘consumption of work’. Second, we argue that this new social construction is made up of three dimensions: consumption of an idealised image of work, consumption through specific work processes and consumption of self-development opportunities at work. We conclude by suggesting... (More)
This paper focuses on representations of the nexus of work, meaning and consumption as experienced by university students. We develop an empirically based argument that the meaning of work is being constructed as an object of consumption on a British university campus. We suggest that this indicates two key changes in representations of the meaning of work. First, there is a significant shift in the social construction of orientations to work towards what we term ‘consumption of work’. Second, we argue that this new social construction is made up of three dimensions: consumption of an idealised image of work, consumption through specific work processes and consumption of self-development opportunities at work. We conclude by suggesting ways in which this argument could be researched further. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
work, consumption, employer branding, university, meaning
in
Organization
volume
27
issue
4
pages
517 - 536
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85052969834
ISSN
1350-5084
DOI
10.1177/1350508417734056
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
76c8cdab-c3dc-4a48-90fe-d176e0c00959
date added to LUP
2017-09-08 16:01:21
date last changed
2022-04-25 02:16:15
@article{76c8cdab-c3dc-4a48-90fe-d176e0c00959,
  abstract     = {{This paper focuses on representations of the nexus of work, meaning and consumption as experienced by university students. We develop an empirically based argument that the meaning of work is being constructed as an object of consumption on a British university campus. We suggest that this indicates two key changes in representations of the meaning of work. First, there is a significant shift in the social construction of orientations to work towards what we term ‘consumption of work’. Second, we argue that this new social construction is made up of three dimensions: consumption of an idealised image of work, consumption through specific work processes and consumption of self-development opportunities at work. We conclude by suggesting ways in which this argument could be researched further.}},
  author       = {{Chertkovskaya, Ekaterina and Korczynski, Marek and Taylor, Scott}},
  issn         = {{1350-5084}},
  keywords     = {{work; consumption; employer branding; university; meaning}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{517--536}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Organization}},
  title        = {{The consumption of work: Representations and interpretations of the meaning of work at a UK university}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508417734056}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1350508417734056}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}