Grace J Whitfield
Biographic Data
| ID | 1140781 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Grace J Whitfield |
| GIVEN NAMES | Grace J |
| FAMILY NAME | Whitfield |
| SIGNATURE | WHITFIELD G J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Sheffield |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6230-6211 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 5 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 5 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
How the care workforce navigates the digital ‘skills gap’
We show a disconnect between the assumptions made in policy discourse and the practicalities and variations in how workers adapt, apply, and develop skills. We also explore the importance of peer support, albeit hindered by time constraints and sometimes overly relying on individual workers. In addition, the paper highlights the importance of understanding how new technology adoption can be stymied by the design of the technology itself, rather t…
Thanks to technology
Discourses and how they construct policy ‘problems’ delimit ‘solutions’, including the scale, shape and structure of services. This article discusses how the adult social care sector in England is presented as a policy problem, with the greater use of technology the associated ‘common-sense’ solution – both to the ‘crisis of care’ in a society with an ageing population and as a means to stimulate the national economy. It draws upon critical disco…
Robots Won’t Save Japan
Guilt, care, and the ideal worker
This article explores care workers and working carers' experiences of work. It focuses on how both groups of workers experience pressures to adhere to an ideal, which this article argues, is centered on an emotional reaction of guilt. Through this ideal of a guilty worker, a “care ethic” is reconfigured to become a “work ethic.” Drawing on 120 semistructured interviews with care workers, working carers, trade union officers, and care company mana…
You couldn't have a heart and want to strike
This article uses John Kelly's mobilisation framework, with its foundational concept of injustice, to explore workers' propensity towards unionism in England's outsourced social care sector. Drawing on 60 interviews with union organisers and officers, care workers, support workers and care company managers, this research highlights the difficulties of union organising in the sector and explores theorisations of mobilising. The research contends t…
Guilt, care, and the ideal worker
This article explores care workers and working carers' experiences of work. It focuses on how both groups of workers experience pressures to adhere to an ideal, which this article argues, is centered on an emotional reaction of guilt. Through this ideal of a guilty worker, a “care ethic” is reconfigured to become a “work ethic.” Drawing on 120 semistructured interviews with care workers, working carers, trade union officers, and care company mana…
Thanks to technology
Discourses and how they construct policy ‘problems’ delimit ‘solutions’, including the scale, shape and structure of services. This article discusses how the adult social care sector in England is presented as a policy problem, with the greater use of technology the associated ‘common-sense’ solution – both to the ‘crisis of care’ in a society with an ageing population and as a means to stimulate the national economy. It draws upon critical disco…
You couldn't have a heart and want to strike
This article uses John Kelly's mobilisation framework, with its foundational concept of injustice, to explore workers' propensity towards unionism in England's outsourced social care sector. Drawing on 60 interviews with union organisers and officers, care workers, support workers and care company managers, this research highlights the difficulties of union organising in the sector and explores theorisations of mobilising. The research contends t…
You couldn't have a heart and want to strike
This article uses John Kelly's mobilisation framework, with its foundational concept of injustice, to explore workers' propensity towards unionism in England's outsourced social care sector. Drawing on 60 interviews with union organisers and officers, care workers, support workers and care company managers, this research highlights the difficulties of union organising in the sector and explores theorisations of mobilising. The research contends t…
Guilt, care, and the ideal worker
This article explores care workers and working carers' experiences of work. It focuses on how both groups of workers experience pressures to adhere to an ideal, which this article argues, is centered on an emotional reaction of guilt. Through this ideal of a guilty worker, a “care ethic” is reconfigured to become a “work ethic.” Drawing on 120 semistructured interviews with care workers, working carers, trade union officers, and care company mana…
Robots Won’t Save Japan
How the care workforce navigates the digital ‘skills gap’
We show a disconnect between the assumptions made in policy discourse and the practicalities and variations in how workers adapt, apply, and develop skills. We also explore the importance of peer support, albeit hindered by time constraints and sometimes overly relying on individual workers. In addition, the paper highlights the importance of understanding how new technology adoption can be stymied by the design of the technology itself, rather t…
Thanks to technology
Discourses and how they construct policy ‘problems’ delimit ‘solutions’, including the scale, shape and structure of services. This article discusses how the adult social care sector in England is presented as a policy problem, with the greater use of technology the associated ‘common-sense’ solution – both to the ‘crisis of care’ in a society with an ageing population and as a means to stimulate the national economy. It draws upon critical disco…
Sociology (5 works) · Law (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Public relations (3 works) · Care work (2 works) · Digital Economy and Work Transformation (2 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (2 works) · Engineering (2 works) · Healthcare innovation and challenges (2 works) · Law (2 works)