Soziale Kompetenz: Hierarchisiert, vergeschlechtlicht und ökonomisiert

This paper discusses the gender-dimension of the notion “social skill” and states that different uses of the term support the gender hierarchies. In the 1970ies “social skills” were attributed to women. Nowadays “social skills” are forming part of the curricula in the educational system. In this process “social skills” are used to fit economic interests and appear to be gender-neutral. A closer look shows that depending on the context the notion has a “male” or “female” bias. The radical shift of work and employment is described by terms like dispersion of borders between life and work, subjectivity and rationalization and has its equivalence in the educational system.