Reference man’s hidden hand: gender, power and the social construction of skill in VET

This paper examines how Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy frameworks perpetuate gender inequity through the social construction of skill. Drawing on transformative gender theory and Bacchi and Eveline’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ approach, it analyses policy instruments, including Training Package policies and the Qualifications Reform Design Group project. The analysis reveals how apparently gender-neutral policies embed masculinised assumptions about learners, work and skill, promoting occupational segregation and disadvantaging women. Central to this is VET’s ‘reference man’, an implicit, unencumbered male archetype shaping policy design and implementation. The paper identifies critical silences in current reforms around workplace culture, care responsibilities and intersectional disadvantage. It argues for a shift away from deficit-based interventions that aim to ‘fix women’, calling instead for transformative approaches confronting structural inequities. It concludes by positioning VET as a site for social justice, urging policymakers to move beyond narrow economic objectives toward equitable outcomes.