Re:Americans overestimate social mobility in their country
by rpmisms on Monday December 13, 2021 @08:24AM
(#29539337)
Out of curiosity, would you consider programming a trade? I'm a degreeless developer, and I definitely treat my work like trade work.
Re:Americans overestimate social mobility in their country
by analog31 on Monday December 13, 2021 @09:06PM
(#29547320)
Ultimately, "trade" is defined by social custom. Another term is "profession." It probably makes more sense to look at how different occupations are trained. Some training is defined by licensure requirements, possibly union standards, and so forth. The duration of training varies by occupation, e.g., medicine takes longer than truck driving. Some training occurs in a college setting, such as medicine and nursing. Some is provided by local or regional trade schools, or by the military.
An interesting thing about programming is that we still haven't reached a consensus on what kind of training is needed. So we can say it's a trade, profession, or whatever, but that doesn't tell us anything useful about it.
Re:Americans overestimate social mobility in their country
by anonfornoreason on Monday December 13, 2021 @09:23AM
(#29539789)
by the colloquial definition, no. "the trades" usually mean plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, welder, home construction, etc. skilled labor with an apprenticeship program, often union backed.
I would consider any person engaged in skilled work that requires learning or training to be a tradesman, so yes a programmer fits in my opinion.
grew up blue collar, still spend plenty of time with blue collar folks. just like there are fat unhealthy desk workers, there are beaten up tradesmen who didn't take care of their bodies. there are also healthy examples of both.
finally, these are required jobs that make our society function. hard to say they are oversold while most of the people on this forum make the proverbial fourteenth attempt at Uber for dogwalking. myself included.