Dr Darren Nixon

This chapter documents and explains working-class men’s labour market difficulties in contemporary postindustrial, service-dominated labour markets in Britain. After first discussing longstanding historical associations between gender, skill and work with a particular focus on constructions of working-class masculinity, it explores in more detail why and how deindustrialization and economic restructuring over several decades have increasingly problematized the labour market participation of working-class men. The chapter then moves on to discuss the experiences of particularly disadvantaged low-skilled and poorly qualified unemployed men struggling to find work in contemporary Britain. It is suggested that recent economic restructuring and welfare reform has actually exacerbated the marginalization of the most disadvantaged men. In concluding, the chapter reflects on the consequences of these shifts for different groups of working-class men and constructions of working-class masculinity.

Deindustrialisation and the development of the 'service economy have had a profound impact on the nature of work and employment in contemporary Britain. Theories of post and reflexive modernity argue that individuals are able to reflexively reconstruct their identities in line with new social and workplace requirements. Yet, stagnating male employment and rapidly rising male economic inactivity suggests that men, in particular, are struggling to adjust to the demands of the new economy. Based on 35 indepth interviews, this paper explores how those most affected by economic restructuring - lowskilled, poorly educated unemployed male manual workers - are adjusting to the development of the service economy. The paper argues that due to their education and skills and the way they strongly identify with particular forms of manual work, lowskilled unemployed men are not reconstructing their identities by seeking employment in growth areas of service and nonmanual employment. Rather, the men continue to seek traditional and familiar forms of maledominated, lowskill manual employment which are now in decline.

Purpose - Looks at the attitudes of lower-skilled, working class men towards entry-level service jobs in the UK to identify the reasons why this group of workers does not take up opportunities for employment in this type of work. Design/methodology/approach - Based on wider research into the employment aspirations and work orientations of unemployed men in Manchester, UK, uses in-depth interviews with 35 men and five focus groups to explore attitudes to service work. Notes that all the men were particularly low-skilled and poorly educated. Quotes their reaction to the idea of working in service jobs, discussing how these attitudes varied by age and by type of service work. Findings - Reports that the men rejected service work that involved dealing with customers on the grounds that they would not have the patience, temperament or skills to manage their emotions when dealing with difficult customers or with managers. Notes that the reactions were similar for older men, who had worked in traditional working class industries, and younger men, who had grown up in a more service-oriented economy. Points out that the men were willing to work in some service jobs, e.g. driving and security jobs, and suggests that this is because they are seen as masculine and male-dominated areas of work, and because these types of job are subject to less surveillance and control. Research limitations/implications - Describes the research methods and the analysis. Originality/value - Looks at male working class attitudes to interactive service work.

This paper explores a third-year Sociology module assessment where students critically analyze contemporary social phenomena using theoretical frameworks from the course. By incorporating their generational perspectives and zeitgeist, students produce insightful commentaries that contribute to a shared learning experience among peers and tutors. This exercise fosters a community of practice, emphasizing mutual learning and engagement. Furthermore, the assessment follows a circular pedagogy, as the most outstanding student work is published annually in an open-access online journal by a student-staff editorial board. This initiative not only enhances academic discourse but also provides students with their first publication, strengthening their CVs and employability. The paper reflects on the impact of this pedagogical approach, highlighting its role in promoting research skills, critical thinking, and collaborative knowledge production.

In the changing UK Higher Education landscape, addressing student retention and attrition rates is of increasing importance. In this paper, after first reviewing literature on the factors influencing student retention and attrition, we explore how the transition to university life for first-year students might be addressed through a games-based learning approach. We explore the benefits of facilitating ‘students as (games) producers’ and incorporating ‘student intelligence’ into university teaching and learning practices before presenting ‘University Challenges’, a new-traditional board game produced through a collaborative staff-student project between sociology students and lecturers at Leeds Beckett University. Drawing on data from student evaluations from three different academic courses, we reflect on how playing ‘University Challenges’ can help first-year students develop the kinds of skills and knowledge basis that contributes to a better experience of the transition and acculturation into university life in all of its facets.

In this paper we explore our experiences of a staff-student collaborative project that sought to design games and learning resources that could be used to “liven-up” research methods and ethics teaching in the social sciences. The paper highlights the benefits of staff-student collaboration in the design and production of game resources, and in particular, the potential for harnessing students’ experiences of teaching and learning through feeding it into curriculum development. The paper also considers the value of the “game-show format” and non-traditional teaching and learning formats for increasing student engagement and performance. Finally, the paper demonstrates the benefits of gamification, through the positive student feedback and evaluation received by the developed games, and explores the wider applicability of games in research methods and ethics teaching across social sciences disciplines.

In this paper we explore our experiences of a staff-student collaborative project that sought to design games and learning resources that could be used to 'liven-up' research methods and ethics teaching in the social sciences. Final and second year undergraduate social science students were encouraged to reflect on their own experiences of both research methods teaching and the process of doing primary research, in order to design games resources that would be useful for future cohorts of students. The concept of games was applied twofold in the project: the development of the teaching resources was itself set up in a games format: we based our initial workshops on the style of the BBC's "Apprentice" programme in order to come up with ideas for the games resources and to introduce a competitive element into the design process. Two groups of students were given a brief to design a games resource that would 'liven up' social science research methods and ethics teaching. Groups then spent an intensive day working on the brief alongside an academic facilitator before pitching their final game concept in a presentation at the end of the day when a winner was announced. In subsequent workshops students worked collaboratively to further develop both games before piloting them on further groups of students prior to production. The second application of the games concept lay in the development of an actual learning resource to be used in future research methods and ethics teaching. The premise of developing an undergraduate dissertation, its (realistic) design and the potential ethical and methodological problems encountered when doing research underpinned the learning objectives for the games developed. The developed games resources have been introduced into the curriculum to supplement the existing (more traditional) learning and teaching strategies and to add a 'fun' element into research methods teaching. Developing a game-based learning approach themselves has thereby increased students' influence on the design of teaching and learning strategies and helped produce a useful learning resource for future cohorts. The paper highlights the benefits of staff-student collaboration in the design and production of game resources, and in particular, the potential for harnessing students' experiences of teaching and learning through feeding it into curriculum development. The paper also demonstrates the benefits of gamification - through a discussion of the positive student feedback and evaluation received by the developed games.

The following pieces of writing by current students have emerged from a third year module within the sociology degree provision – Contemporary Society and Social Futures. As a collection they have been so innovative, critical and engaging that we thought that they should have a wider readership than just the module tutors. So we’ve put them together into this publication which celebrates the critical observations that our students have been making! Still, whilst many papers were interesting and stimulating, we could only select some of work produced. So in what follows, we present 14 ‘Critical Reflections’ from the module. Students were asked to apply key theories and concepts covered on the module in order to develop a critical commentary on the nature of contemporary society, or particular aspects of it. The work was produced in the first semester of the 2012-13 academic year.

This paper responds to the call for more research on the “missing middle” by reporting the findings of a small-scale qualitative longitudinal study in the North of England exploring the labour market transitions of young people completing compulsory schooling with mid-level qualifications and seeking employment. It found that participants desired training which aligned with their skills, interests and future work intentions. Participants were drawn to seek apprenticeships because they offered “earning and learning” in a real life work environment. However, for the vast majority, apprenticeships were not available, so they turned to college to articulate their choices and gain work-related training. Qualifications were gained in order to gain leverage in the job market and help them achieve “getting on” work. However, often a period of “pinballing” between their ambitions and the reality of the labour market ensued due to the lack of desirable quality work available. The majority of participants were still resisting “going nowhere” work and making efforts to achieve “getting on” work when interviewed, however some had stopped making the effort and resigned themselves to on-going poor quality work. The process of biographicity was, for them, a reconciliation with on-going low quality work.

Within the serious games literature, attention is mostly focused on the benefits of playing games for students. In this chapter, we attempt to demonstrate the benefits of working with students to design and produce games for use in sociology teaching. We show how a playful approach/environment, which engages students and assigns them an active role in the gamification process, can be mobilized to facilitate student game design and the production of game resources that have pedagogic value and impact. We suggest that this approach generates a range of benefits for the students involved and the games produced.

Student retention and attrition rates have been established as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for course teams in the Higher Education landscape in the UK. Against this quantified (and neoliberal) auditable undertaking, in this paper we offer an examination of a set of alternative qualitative efforts which are intended to improve the first year student experience by helping students transition into their course, and university life more generally. Working with students to enhance the first year experience is at the centre of our ontological position and we draw heavily on the idea of a “long thin” induction which continues throughout the first year at university. We explore the benefits of facilitating „students as producers‟ and incorporating „student intelligence‟ into university teaching and learning practices before presenting a series of activities that are designed to help students transition successfully and build a strong course identity. Having offered students different ways of structured integration into the course we reflect on how these activities can help first-year students develop the kinds of skills and knowledge base that contributes to a better experience of the transition and acculturation into university life in all of its facets.