Showing papers on "Women's work published in 2019"

Patriarchal Hegemony: Investigating the Impact of Patriarchy on Women’s Work-Life Balance

Abstract: Purpose – Research on the impact of patriarchy and patriarchal norms on women’s work-life balance is scarce. A typical patriarchal society, such as Nigeria, tends to be organised based on gender, and the construct is embedded in the culture. This study investigates the impact of patriarchy on women’s work-life balance in a non-western context: Nigeria. Design/Methodology/Approach – The authors adopt a qualitative research approach to enhance their insight into the issue of patriarchy and women’s work-life balance. Data for the study was collected over a four-month period, utilising semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection. Findings – The findings of the thematic analysis reveal the impact of patriarchy on women’s work-life balance in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Nigeria. Women’s aspirations to achieve work-life balance in this part of the world are often frustrated by patriarchal norms, which are deeply ingrained in the culture. The findings of this study reveal that male dominance of and excessive subordination of females, domestic and gender-based division of labour, and higher patriarchal proclivities among men are the ingredients of a patriarchal society. These issues make the achievement of work-life balance difficult for women. Research Limitations/Implications – The extent to which the findings of this research can be generalised is constrained by the limited sample size and the selected research context. Practical Implications – The insights gleaned from this research suggest that there are still major challenges for women in the global south, specifically Nigeria, in terms of achieving work-life balance due to the prevalent patriarchy and patriarchal norms in the society. Strong patriarchal norms and proclivity negatively affect women’s work-life balance and in turn may impact employee productivity, organisational effectiveness, employee performance, and employee punctuality at work. However, an Australian ‘Champion of Change’ initiative may be adopted to ease the patriarchal proclivity and help women to achieve work-life balance. Originality/Value – This article provides valuable insights by bringing patriarchy into the discussion of work-life balance. This issue has been hitherto rare in the literature. It therefore enriches the literature on work-life balance from a patriarchal perspective.

‘Women’s work penalty’ in access to flexible working arrangements across Europe:

Abstract: Many assume that women and workers in female-dominated workplaces will have better access to flexible working arrangements. Some use this as justification for the low wages found in these workplace...

Temporality and gendered agency: menopausal subjectivities in women’s work

Abstract: This article advances feminist organizational theorizing about embodiment and subjectivity by investigating menopause at work as a temporally constituted phenomenon. We ask how time matters in wome...

Women's work and structural change: occupational structure in eighteenth‐century Spain

Abstract: This article uses the declarations of householders in the Cadaster of Ensenada (1750–5) to calculate labour participation rates for women and men from 22 localities in inland Spain. The article establishes the actual levels of women's market activity, which are much higher than commonly assumed. This unique source also makes it possible to analyse the region's occupational structure. Due to the labour‐intensive character of manufacturing work, the abundant supply of cheap labour, the diffusion of cottage industries, and the demand for commodities from internal and colonial markets, a large portion of the region's population worked in manufactures in the eighteenth century. This finding challenges standard interpretations of the Spanish economy at this time as mostly agricultural, which rely on sources that exclude women workers. Most workers in the manufacturing sector were women, and their market activity was concentrated in textile manufacturing. Once women are included in the analyses, the industrial share of employment follows a U‐shaped trajectory from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century. The article concludes that the standard interpretation of structural change, based solely on empirical evidence for male workers, gives a misleading picture of when, where, why, and how structural change occurred.

(In)visibility, care and cultural barriers: the size and shape of women’s work in India

Abstract: Based on primary data from a large household survey in seven districts in West Bengal in India, this paper analyses the reasons underlying low labor force participation of women. In particular, we try to disentangle the intertwined strands of choice, constraints posed by domestic work and care responsibilities, and the predominant understanding of cultural norms as factors explaining the low labor force participation as measured by involvement in paid work. We document the fuzziness of the boundary between domestic work and unpaid (and therefore invisible) economic work that leads to mis-measurement of women’s work and suggest methods to improve measurement. We find that being primarily responsible for domestic chores lower the probability of “working”, after accounting for all the conventional factors. We also document how, for women, being out of paid work is not synonymous with care or domestic work, as they are involved in expenditure saving activities. We also find that religion and visible markers such as veiling are not significant determinants of the probability of working. Our data shows substantial unmet demand for work. Given that women are primarily responsible for domestic chores, we also document that women express a demand for work that would be compatible with household chores.

Women's Work And Women's Lives: The Continuing Struggle Worldwide

Abstract: Part 1 Overview: promise and disappointment of the modern era - equality for women, Jane L. Ziele women's work, women's lives - a comparative economic perspective, Francine D. Blau and Marianne A. Ferber. Part 2 Modernizing regions: caught in the crisis - women in the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, Gordon Weil development and changing gender roles in Latin America and the Caribbean, Helen I. Safa women, employment, and social change in the Middle East and North Africa, Valentine M. Moghadam. Part 3 Socialist economies in transition: women and work in Communist and Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe, Sharon L. Wolchik the interaction of women's work and family roles in the USSR, Gail W. Lapidus. Part 4 Industrial economies: women's labour market experiences in the two Germanies, Hedwig Rudolph politics, progress and compromise - women's work and lives in Great Britain, Emma MacLennan central in the family and marginal in the work force - women's place in Japanese society, Ann Cordilia and Kazuko Ohta women and the welfare state in the Nordic countries, Elina Haavio-Mannila and Kaisa Kauppinen work-family policies in the United States, Joseph H. Pleck. Part 5 Conclusion: progress or stalemate? a cross-national comparison of women's status and roles, Hilda Kahne.

Women's experience of shiftwork in nursing whilst caring for children: A juggling act.

Abstract: Aims and objectives To explore women's experiences of working shiftwork in nursing whilst caring for children. Background In nursing, almost 90% of Australia's practising nurses and midwives are women. Much of the research undertaken in the shiftwork area uses men as their sample and uses a quantitative methodology to achieve results. Little work has been undertaken that explores the experience of women working shiftwork whilst raising children. Design Heideggerian Hermeneutic Phenomenological Design. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted with ten women who cared for children about their experience of shiftwork. Each interview was digitally audio-recorded. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. The interpretation used first Heideggerian phenomenology as a lens and then second research on women's work and gender roles to resituate the experience in context. Reporting rigour has been demonstrated using the COREQ checklist. Results Two major themes were derived from the data, Being Guilty and Being Juggler. Each is discussed in this paper. Conclusions This study adds a qualitative voice to the substantial quantitative shiftwork body of literature. The themes uncovered in this study have thrown light on the nature of work done by women who are nurses, particularly the work related to their home and children. Relevance to clinical practice There are opportunities to increase education around the importance of sleep and shiftwork self-care in both preservice and new graduate education to assist nurses to ensure that sleep is a priority whilst working shiftwork.

Women's Work-Life Balance: Compensation is the Key

Abstract: The increase in the level of literacy, standard of living, changing societal attitudes, and a quest for economic independence are considered to increase female employment. However, elements, including responsibilities towards family, job demands, reduced autonomy in jobs, and increased work hours, are expected to reduce female employment. The education sector is the largest employer of women in India and is undergoing rapid changes because of multiple demands from stakeholders. This study investigates the status of work–life balance (WLB) among female non instructional staff at private universities. Moreover, motivations to work, challenges, work pressure, and their mental and physical health-related outcomes have been studied.

AFFECTIVE WORK AND ACCESS TO EXCELLENCE — Reorganizing Nordic Welfare

Abstract: In the Nordic countries of the 20 th century, the caring businesses have usually been handled by women in families or by public institutions of the welfare state. In the 21 st century, however, care is becoming a real business. The affective work of education, health and social services is organized by the competitive state or in private welfare enterprises. The economization of welfare leads to the rationalization of work processes and the selection of services and clients. The consequences for the professionals as well as the clients are ambiguous. On one hand, hyper-professionals are developing highly specialized work with the potential to extend human life capacities almost infinitely. On the other hand, sub-professionals are still doing more standardized jobs, and the selection between clients is decreasing. Access to excellent care becomes the central issue, and both professionals and the public are confronted with new ethical challenges.

Female Breadwinners in State Socialism: The Value of Women's Work for Wages in Post-Stalinist Poland

Abstract: This article examines popular opinion about women's wage work in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Poland, using letters to institutions and sociological research from this period. It introduces the notion of female breadwinning as a useful category to describe the understanding of women's wage work under state socialism. Opinions on women's wage work varied, but all of them were based on gender assumptions. Women's and men's work were valued differently. Men's work had an indisputable, independent position. Women's work was evaluated in the context of family. Women could be breadwinners, but not equal to male ones; their wage work was perceived as secondary.

Preference or endowment? Intergenerational transmission of women’s work behavior and the underlying mechanisms

Abstract: Existing studies have established a positive correlation between a married woman’s work behavior and her mother-in-law’s. Such linkage is attributable to the profound influence of maternal employment on son’s gender role preferences or household productivity. This paper systematically investigates the relative importance of the two potential mechanisms using the Chinese survey data. We show that a substantive part of the intergenerational correlation is left unexplained even if we control for the husband’s gender role attitudes. Instead, we find that the husband’s household productivity is more crucial in the wife’s work decision, suggesting the dominance of the endowment channel over the preference channel.

Women’s Work in Response to Urbanization: Evidence from Odisha:

Abstract: This article examines the impact of urbanization as a vehicle of modernization on a variable like women workforce participation rate (WFPR), which is highly sensitive to social and cultural factors...

The influence of hierarchical organizational culture, supportive environment and sexual harassment on Korean women’s work-to-family enrichment

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among hierarchical organizational culture, organizational support for women, sexual harassment and work-to-family enrichment of working women in South Korea. Design/methodology/approach A total of 196 responses from married female employees who had a child (or children) in for-profit organizations in South Korea were analyzed by using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis. Findings The findings indicated that hierarchical organizational culture was negatively associated with organizational support and was positively associated with sexual harassment. In addition, an organizational atmosphere that is friendly and supportive to women had a positive effect on work-to-family enrichment. However, the more sexual harassment female workers experienced, the less positive the relationship between their work and family lives. Hierarchical organizational culture negatively affected work-to-family enrichment, but the effect was indirect through organizational support and sexual harassment. Originality/value These findings emphasize the importance of transforming the traditional culture in Korean organizations to reduce power distance to create a more female-friendly and supportive environment. With the dramatic recent increase in the number of female workers, building such an environment can enhance organizations’ competitiveness by creating a positive spillover effect between women’s work and family lives.

Social networks as the backbone of women’s work in the Catalan Pyrenees:

Abstract: This paper discusses how historically the accumulation of symbolic power by men produced a glass ceiling for women in the Catalan Pyrenees and how women have overcome this constraint by engaging in...

Counting Women's Work in the Philippines

Abstract: Men and women play important and complementary roles in the economy. However, the activities that they perform are often valued differently, if at all. In this study, we provide new estimates of the value of men and women’s work in the Philippines using the National Transfer Account and the National Time Transfer Account frameworks. We find that once the value of unpaid home production is taken into account, the contribution of women is closer to parity relative to those by men, as opposed to using only the value of paid market work. This is despite the fact that home production activities, which are largely performed by women, are paid lower market wages. Additionally, we document a strong association between parental time and child schooling outcomes, which further emphasizes the contribution of unpaid housework in the economy. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from date of posting. Email publications@mail.pids.gov.ph.

The life cycle of women’s employment in Australia and inequality markers

Abstract: This chapter reviews the life cycle of women’s employment in Australia, arguing that while women’s labour force attachment has shifted and increased significantly in the last 40 years, it still does not match male employment patterns over the life cycle and around which our policy framework was constructed. The result of this is a number of inequality markers between genders. Three of these inequality markers are examined: working hours, pay and superannuation. The causes and interconnections between them are discussed as they relate to the four life phases we identify.

Women’s work

Abstract: Academic chemistry is haemorrhaging talented female researchers. However, a barrage of new initiatives aims to stem the flood.

Beyond “Women’s Work”: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Management of Paid Care Work in Nonprofit Domiciliary Services in Italy

Abstract: Based on qualitative data, this article focuses on management practices in social cooperatives operating as nonprofit providers of domiciliary care services in Italy. Their livelihood is eroded by ...

Women's Work and Agency in GPNS during Economic Crises: The Case of the Greek Table Grapes Export Sector

Abstract: The expansion of global production networks (GPNs) has shifted women’s roles in agriculture worldwide. Financial and economic crises have intensified commercial pressures, leading to precariousness...

How Men Valued Women's Work: Labour In and Outside the Home in Post-War Britain

Abstract: This article examines men's valuing of women's work in the post-1945 period. It considers men's perspectives on female labour in and outside the home in the context of women's wartime work, the increase in married women working and the greater involvement of men in family life. I argue that men saw their wives’ and partners’ work as of lesser value than their own, in various ways, even if the money women's paid work brought in could significantly improve living standards. This was true even in the most caring, loving relationships. The article employs a broad definition of value, considering the social and cultural value of work alongside its economic outcomes. It places subjective accounts from interviews within a wider cultural and political context and contributes a new perspective to post-war British historiography by focusing on both paid labour and domestic work, and the negotiation of value between men and women.

Counting on Women’s Work Without Counting Women’s Work: Women’s unpaid work in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt

Abstract: In the MENA region, care is considered the main responsibility of women, and prioritized over their participation in the labour market. This report is based on an extensive review of existing literature on paid labour, gender-based division of household tasks, unpaid non-economic labour and economic labour, as well as the different contexts within which these concepts intertwine. Case studies review existing data and information on women’s unpaid work in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia at the level of regulatory frameworks, socio-cultural norms and socio-economic contexts in the countries. The report examines a possible framework for responding to unpaid work and suggests further research questions that could help governments, policy makers and programme designers in addressing unpaid care.

Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work / Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism against the Family

Abstract: A central task of political economy since Quesnay has been to investigate how the economy and society are reproduced over time through purposeful human activity. Starting in the late 1960s, some fe...

Female labor applying by the Maritime Ministry of the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries

Abstract: The article deals with the issues related to the evolution of the use of women in the civil service at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries on the example of the Maritime Ministry on the basis of previously unpublished documents stored in the Russian state archive of the Navy and periodical press materials. The study of gender issues can be of scientific interest on the basis of its documents, as practically not in demand in research related to the women’s issue. As a result of the struggle of the public, there were some concessions on the part of the authorities related to the expansion of women’s access to fill certain positions in a number of areas that experienced a lack of certain qualifications, including public service, in the conditions of intensive bourgeois development. The article analyzes the legal acts regulating the work of women, especially in the public service. it is shown how the changes that took place in the Russian Empire influenced the transformation of the socio-economic situation of women in General, and, also, became a reflection of the social policy of the state. The article reveals the attitude of the heads of departments of the Ministry to the admission of women to the public service, as well as their opinion on the degree of necessity for the service itself in attracting women to it. The article deals with the arguments of men − heads of departments of the Ministry, related to the impact of women’s work on home life, on the family and on itself, which differed largely by philistine assessments, rather than progressive views. In fact, on the part of the authorities, concessions to women were more imaginary and forced than the result of an objective assessment of their equal opportunity to serve in the public system.