# Professor Lawrence White explains the historical context behind the use of the word "unskilled" in connection with low-wage jobs

1 Faculty News July 29, 2019 ![Business Insider logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/business%20insider%20logo.jpg?itok=0MJSCdPh)>

Excerpt from [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/why-unskilled-labor-perpetuates-stereotypes-about-gender-education-2019-7) -- "Since there are more people who could wait tables than who could be doctors, waitressing jobs pay less, White said. Yet use of the term in economics is not meant to qualify low-paying or high-paying jobs as being hard or easy."

[Read more](https://www.businessinsider.com/why-unskilled-labor-perpetuates-stereotypes-about-gender-education-2019-7)