Defining ‘freelance.’ It’s a problem.
What do you say when someone asks you what you do as an independent professional?
Which of your identities do you share first?
If you struggle with this, you are not alone.
If it's any consolation, researchers don't know how to describe independent professionals either. This challenge is outlined clearly in the article "Are freelancers a neglected form of small business?" by John Kitching and David Smallbone of the Small Business Research Centre, Kingston-upon Thames University, Kingston-upon-Thames in the United Kingdom.
In their paper, Kitching and Smallbone (2012) argue against the poor way freelancing has been defined in the academic literature and by those who gather labor statistics. While the authors focus on UK freelancers in their paper, their observations and well-researched points have global implications. The bottom line is that freelancers need to be described better everywhere.
Kitching and Smallbone explain that "freelance" is often applied to independent workers in creative fields. They point out that freelancers exist in many fields, ranging from graphic design to engineering to project management to food and finance. I'm adding environmental education to this list and including the professionals outside of traditional environmental education who do environmental awareness work.
Kitching and Smallbone (2012) argue that freelancers are small business owners because existing research does not distinguish between freelance work and other small business activities. They call for more research into freelancing and cite five reasons why it is needed:
Freelancing is defined narrowly, taking into consideration only select types of activities.
Academic researchers have yet to define what it means to freelance.
More reliable data describing the freelance workforce is needed.
There is a need to compare freelancers in other countries.
Additional research is needed in order to compare freelance activities to small business activities.
They also cite a need to understand how freelance professionals work in different settings.
"Freelancers are not simply smaller-scale versions of businesses with employees," state Kitching and Smallbone (2012). They deserve more attention.
What do you think?
Click on the link in the citation below to read this article online or to download a copy for your library.
Literature Cited
Kitching, J. and Smallbone, D. (2012), "Are freelancers a neglected form of small business?", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol.19 No. 1, pp. 74-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626001211196415
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