[Ads-l] Antedating of "Knowledge Worker"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Interesting topic. Below is an example of a citation from a document
that would have been difficult to locate and access without the
Internet Archive. The term “organized knowledge workers” is employed
repeatedly in a 1949 document submitted to Boston University to obtain
the degree of Master of Education.

Of course, the term “organized knowledge workers” is not identical to
“knowledge workers”, but it seems to refer to the same notion.

Year: 1949
Title: Unit Organization of Four Topics in Occupations
Author: Mary Agnes Finn
Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of
Master of Education
Institution: Boston University School of Education
Chapter 2: The Organized Knowledge Group
Quote Page 7 and several other pages

https://archive.org/details/unitorganization00finn/page/n23/mode/2up?q=%22knowledge+workers%22&view=theater

[Begin excerpt]
The organized knowledge group includes workers in public service,
technical, and managerial work which requires the capacity to acquire
and apply the special knowledge involved in social service work,
teaching, scientific study, research, engineering, drafting, law,
medicine, business relations, or management.

1. Organized knowledge workers may be divided into three groups:
a. Public Service workers
b. Technical workers
c. Managerial workers
[End excerpt]

[Begin Excerpt Page 29]
Organized knowledge workers must have the capacity to acquire and
apply specialized knowledge
[End excerpt Page 29]

The document points to a 1944 document from the War Manpower
Commission which may have employed the term earlier. Specifically,
footnotes point to War Manpower Commission, Bureau of Manpower
Utilization, DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONAL TITLES. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1944

Garson

On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 9:46 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> knowledge worker (OED 1962)
>
> 1960 Kingston Whig-Standard 9 Sept. 21 (Newspapers.com)
>
> Mr. Werner used the term "knowledge worker" to describe a person who is highly trained in a technical sense.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org