@article{ART003308284},
author={NA-HYUN CHOI},
title={From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling},
journal={인문논총 },
issn={2005-6222},
year={2026},
volume={69},
pages={127-155}
TY - JOUR
AU - NA-HYUN CHOI
TI - From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling
JO - 인문논총
PY - 2026
VL - 69
IS - null
PB - Institute for Human studies, Kyungnam University
SP - 127
EP - 155
SN - 2005-6222
AB - This study examines how practical skills developed by young high-school–educated women working in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are rendered illegible in hiring and job-mobility processes dominated by degree- and credential-based evaluation. Drawing on in-depth interview data, the paper conceptualizes “boundaryless jobs” as work arrangements in which task boundaries are not fixed by job descriptions but expand and are reassigned sequentially under chronic understaffing and low standardization. Within these conditions, participants repeatedly performed a “fixer” role—linking tasks, coordinating across boundaries, and filling operational gaps—thereby accumulating contextual skills that are difficult to translate into standardized evaluation language. The analysis identifies a processual mechanism of skill misrecognition: restricted access to application/selection stages, mismatch between experiential skills and registration devices (e.g., job titles, tenure, portfolios, tests, and referral tracks), and the institutionalization of degree-based readability rules. As these experiences accumulate, degrees are redefined less as proof of competence than as a “passport” for entry into evaluative procedures, encouraging pragmatic returns to online universities and the construction of credential portfolios. The study reframes mobility barriers as limitations of institutional devices for translating and reading skills, and argues for alternative recognition systems beyond single-degree logics.
KW - High school graduates;Young women workers;SMEs;Boundaryless jobs;Skill recognition;Credentialism
DO -
UR -
ER -
NA-HYUN CHOI. (2026). From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling. 인문논총 , 69, 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. 2026, "From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling", 인문논총 , vol.69, pp.127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI "From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling" 인문논총 69 pp.127-155 (2026) : 127.
NA-HYUN CHOI. From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling. 2026; 69 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. "From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling" 인문논총 69(2026) : 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling. 인문논총 , 69, 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling. 인문논총 . 2026; 69 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling. 2026; 69 127-155.
NA-HYUN CHOI. "From “Fixers” to “Underqualified”: Skills of Young High-School–Educated Women Workers in Small and Medium-Sized Workplaces and Their Compromised Return to Degree Signaling" 인문논총 69(2026) : 127-155.
