Men and Women of the Corporation

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Scholarship on work and family topics expanded in scope and coverage during the 2000 – 2010 decade, spurred by an increased diversity of workplaces and of families, by methodological innovations, and by the growth of communities of scholars focused on the work-family nexus. We discuss these developments as the backdrop for emergent work-family research on six central topics: (a) gender, time, and the division of labor in the home; (b) paid work: too much or too little; (c) maternal employment and child outcomes; (d) work-family conflict; (e) work, family, stress, and health; and (f) work-family policy. We conclude with a discussion of trends important for research and suggestions about future directions in the work-family arena.

Work and Family Research in the First Decade of the 21st Century.

Women obtain more than half of U.S. undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, yet they earn less than 20% of computer science, engineering, and physics undergraduate degrees (National Science Foundation, 2014a). Gender differences in interest in computer science, engineering, and physics appear even before college. Why are women represented in some science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields more than others? We conduct a critical review of the most commonly cited factors explaining gender disparities in STEM participation and investigate whether these factors explain differential gender participation across STEM fields. Math performance and discrimination influence who enters STEM, but there is little evidence to date that these factors explain why women's underrepresentation is relatively worse in some STEM fields. We introduce a model with three overarching factors to explain the larger gender gaps in participation in computer science, engineering, and physics than in biology, chemistry, and mathematics: (a) masculine cultures that signal a lower sense of belonging to women than men, (b) a lack of sufficient early experience with computer science, engineering, and physics, and (c) gender gaps in self-efficacy. Efforts to increase women's participation in computer science, engineering, and physics may benefit from changing masculine cultures and providing students with early experiences that signal equally to both girls and boys that they belong and can succeed in these fields. (PsycINFO Database Record

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/143/1/1.pdf

Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others

I use a volunteer process model to organize a review of recent research on volunteerism, focusing mainly on journal articles reporting survey research results. Scholars from several different disci...

Volunteerism Research: A Review Essay

This study extends previous research by Dilworth by examining antecedents of both positive and negative family-to-work spillover—a long-neglected area of research. It also uses an extended definition of domestic labor that includes emotion work and status enhancement. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples, the study found gender differences and similarities in the antecedents of family-to-work spillover. For both men and women, family cohesion and emotion-work satisfaction enhanced positive family-to-work spillover. For men, relationship satisfaction was associated with positive family-to-work spillover, whereas satisfaction with the housework arrangement was related to women’s positive spillover. The factors associated with negative family-to-work spillover are different for men and women. For men, satisfaction with the status enhancement they perform in support of their partner’s career was related to decreased negative family-to-work spillover. For women, the presence of preschool-aged...

Examining the “Neglected Side of the Work-Family Interface” Antecedents of Positive and Negative Family-to-Work Spillover

This study examines the relationships between gender ideology, work-to-family conflict, and marital satisfaction. We hypothesize that gender ideology will moderate relationships between both the respondent’s work-to-family conflict and their spouse’s work-to-family conflict in predicting marital satisfaction, and that spouses’ gender ideologies will interact in predicting marital satisfaction. The hypotheses are addressed using data from a random sample of U.S. dual-earner couples (N = 156) in a western state. The findings indicate that the more egalitarian women’s gender ideologies, the stronger the negative relationship between women’s marital satisfaction and women’s work-to-family conflict. The results also indicate that the dependence of men’s marital satisfaction on wives’ gender ideologies varies according to men’s own gender ideologies. Implications of the study are discussed.

His and Her Perspectives: Gender Ideology, Work-to-Family Conflict, and Marital Satisfaction

We used role theory to direct our analysis of the association between family-friendly policies, workplace environment, family role quality, and positive spillover from family to work. Taking data from 104 dual-earner couples with children living in Utah, we examined the influence of both partners’ access to family-friendly policies, both partners’ workplace environments, and the family role quality reported by the couple. We found that family role quality was significantly associated with positive family-to-work spillover for men and women. In addition, women’s own workplace culture and the ability of women’s partners to leave work to care for children were associated with women’s positive family-to-work spillover. These findings were viewed through the lens of gender theory and traditionally structured institutions and roles.

Workplace Policy and Environment, Family Role Quality, and Positive Family-to-Work Spillover

Past studies have shown that women’s volunteer work benefits communities but that women themselves tend to minimize their efforts. Most of these studies, however, have been limited to women volunteering in suburban and urban contexts. Drawing on a study of women volunteers in rural Iowa, the authors find that women frame their volunteer experiences in three ways: (1) as an expression of their maternal nature, (2) as a way to socialize, and (3) as a contribution to the local economy. The authors’ findings depart from past research in that the women in their sample do not downplay the importance of their volunteer work; rather, they recognize the importance of their unpaid labor for the social and economic vitality of the community. The authors argue this recognition stems from the particular context in which their volunteerism takes place, namely, in a devastated rural economy in which future economic potential rests on women’s hospitality work.

Keepin’ This Little Town Going Gender and Volunteerism in Rural America

Using questionnaire data from 96 couples, we examined the relationship between respondents' domestic-labor performance, domestic-labor satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. We analytically separated the dimensions of domestic labor (i.e., household tasks, emotion work, and childcare) and ran separate analyses for men and women. We found that the amount of labor performed is associated with satisfaction with emotion work and childcare arrangements, but not the household task arrangement. Satisfaction with domestic-labor arrangements mediated the relationship between actual domestic-labor performance and marital satisfaction, and the central role of emotion work emerged in our analysis.

Susan E. Mannon

Papers

Examining the “Neglected Side of the Work-Family Interface” Antecedents of Positive and Negative Family-to-Work Spillover

His and Her Perspectives: Gender Ideology, Work-to-Family Conflict, and Marital Satisfaction

Workplace Policy and Environment, Family Role Quality, and Positive Family-to-Work Spillover

Keepin’ This Little Town Going Gender and Volunteerism in Rural America

Domestic Labor and Marital Satisfaction: How Much or How Satisfied?