Assistant Roles in a Modernised Public Service: Towards a New Professionalism?

Abstract

In the past, when politicians have celebrated the achievements of the public sector workforce they have inevitably pinpointed the contribution of public service professionals such as nurses, teachers and police officers. Recently, however, a striking feature of public service modernisation has been the increased recognition of the contribution of assistant roles, such as teaching and health care assistants that has started to pepper policy documents (Blair, 2002; Cabinet Office, 2008). This higher public profile reflects the extent to which the growth of assistant roles has been integral to work restructuring and public service modernisation. Assistants work alongside public service professionals, often in welfare roles that support vulnerable members of the community. These positions are usually filled by women and traditionally have been low-paid with limited career prospects (Clayton, 1993; Thornley, 1996). These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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