The importance of context in both defining and using competencies is further
explored in a study of competency-based assessment centres for the selection of the UK
judges (Kirton and Healy, 2009). This study noted that while using competencies in
selection had the potential to increase diversity in a very homogenous workforce, that
the competencies themselves were socially constructed and that measurement, while
seeming objective, is dependent on subjective judgements by assessors. This criticism
of the competency approach should be borne in mind throughout the following paper.