The Paradox of Specialization: How Work Has Become More Demanding

For over a century, thinkers like Adam Smith and Karl Marx believed that as jobs became more specialized, workers would focus on fewer, simpler tasks. And for a time, that seemed true. But today, many specialized roles - from teachers to doctors to police officers - require people to juggle more responsibilities than ever before.

In this lecture, Michelle Jackson, Associate Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, explores this surprising shift in the modern workforce. Drawing on historical and statistical research, she shows how advances in science and data have expanded - not reduced - the scope of what workers are expected to do.

From predicting crime to preventing illness to improving educational outcomes, workers are now tasked with managing increasingly complex systems. This talk reveals how specialization has paradoxically led to more demanding jobs - and what that means for work, inequality, and everyday life today.