Multiple Fragmentations: A Subnational Analysis of the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce in Argentina

Abstract

The divided nature of the ECEC workforce is widely acknowledged. While scholarship has focused primarily on the consequences of the education–care divide, few studies have examined the workforce’s fragmentation from a subnational perspective, particularly in the Global South. This article explores multiple fragmentations in the workforce, drawing on three provincial case studies in Argentina. The study included 17 interviews with national and subnational policy makers and three focus groups with ECEC workers. We explore ECEC workers’ heterogeneous conditions and experiences across three provinces and demonstrate how vertical and horizontal fragmentation combine to create multiple fragmentations. We argue that subnational approaches are critical for better understanding the ECEC workforce’s complexities and, ultimately, ECEC systems.