A view of aesthetic labour practice in higher technical and vocational education

Abstract

Even though aesthetic labour has gradually revealed social and economic value in the employment market, little research has been carried out on the connection and practice of aesthetic labour in technical and vocational education. Front-line ground staffs account for the largest proportion of the employees of airlines and can provide colleges with more off-school internships or well-matched employment vacancies. The aesthetic labour displayed by ground staff combines functional value with emotional value, contributing to a unique customer experience. According to the frequency distribution of retrieved questionnaires, the interviewed passengers tended to have positive verbal comments for the generalization of their evaluations of employees' aesthetic attributes. The 'aggregation function by verbal evaluating' was used to evaluate the weight values of the aesthetic dimensions as well as their corresponding items. The results showed that the passengers paid the most attention to the 'service contact norms' that integrated all their needs concerning individual interest, followed by the 'behaviour norms' of interpersonal interactions and then the explicit 'dressing norms' and 'appearance norms' of service suppliers. This study offers reference for the curriculum and internship planning of relevant departments of colleges, and provides enterprises with a direction for strategic recruitment, development, and reward programs.