Women's work

About: Women's work is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1625 publications have been published within this topic receiving 33754 citations. The topic is also known as: woman's work.

Women's work: the feminization and shifting meanings of clerical work

Abstract: This paper examines the changing role of women’s paid work outside the home in Canada and the US since the late nineteeth century. In particular we provide a longitudinal analysis of clerical work: a job sector that has constantly ranked as one of the top occupations for women in both countries. Drawing on empirical evidence from both Canada and the US we examine women’s participation in the white-collar workforce in three time periods: the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, mid-century to the early 1970s, and the 1970s to the present day. We argue that although clerical work has long been considered a ‘good job for women’, the content of what this means has changed under different economic circumstances and at different cultural moments. Ultimately, we argue that a range of processes have re-defined women’s place in the white-collar workforce, as well as the role clerical work plays in women’s lives. By teasing out these links we contribute to scholarship on the history of clerical work and the white-collar workplace, as well as debates about the social effects of economic change.

Commitment to Work Among Welfare-Reliant Women

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to describe the work of welfare-reliant women and to reveal commitment to work in the experiences of 84 welfarereliant, rural women interviewed for this study. Understanding the domains where welfare-reliant women exhibit commitment to work may help policy makers, trainers, and employers design and implement interventions that enhance chances of success for these women in the formal, paid workforce. Discussion focuses on the women's formal labor force participation in the past and desire for wage work in the future; barriers to labor force participation, both personal and in the rural job market; informal work and the work of care; support networks; survival strategies for making ends meet while receiving welfare; and the stigma of welfare receipt. Key Words: family policy, welfare reform, women's work. There are many impediments, at societal and individual levels, to families moving from welfare reliance to full-time paid labor Well-known barriers include lack of job skills, low educational attainment, single-parent households and heavy family responsibilities, severely limited employment opportunities in local communities (especially in the rural South), lack of reliable transportation, and lack of quality affordable child care (Brayfield & Hofferth, 1995; Browne, 1995; Hao, 1995; Harris, 1996; Nord & Beaulieu, 1997). Recent research suggests that it is not just these obstacles, but a pileup of severe, persistent problems that impede employment success for welfare-reliant women (Zedlewski, 1999). There is another impediment that rests just under the surface of public discourse among employers, trainers, politicians, and the general citizenry: the belief that some welfare reliant adults resist efforts to move them into the formal workforce. Some employers call this problem a lack of "willingness to work" or absence of a work ethic (Gilens, 1999; Kirschenman & Neckerman, 1991; Monroe, Blalock, & Vlosky, 1999). Work ethic is described as responsibility, dependability, pride in a job, loyalty to an employer, and commitment to work, and the welfare reliant population is stereotyped as uniformly deficient in its work ethic (Kirschenman & Neckerman; Rose, 1995; Task Force, 1993). Such thinking is flawed on many levels. There is solid evidence that the welfare-reliant population is heterogeneous in terms of many defining characteristics, including previous participation in the formal labor force and the circumstances that precipitated the need for public assistance (for reviews, see Jencks, 1992; Task Force, 1993; Taylor Jackson, & Chatters, 1997). Furthermore, most people who participate in the welfare system do not rely on welfare for long periods of time, although participants appear to be stereotyped by the small core of individuals who are chronically dependent on public assistance (Friedlander & Burtless, 1995; Harris, 1996; Rank, 1994a, 1994b; Rosenbaum & Popkin, 1991). Despite such empirical data, the American people and their public officials show a broad willingness to stigmatize the poor, including the working poor and families reliant on public assistance, and to base policy reforms on such stereotypes (Gilens, 1999). The purpose of this article is to describe the work of welfare-reliant women. We will attempt to uncover various ways (where they exist) in which marginalized women exhibit commitment to informal and formal work, for the purpose of helping policy makers, trainers, and employers design interventions that enhance chances of success for these women in the formal workforce. Finally, the foregoing issues will be examined in the context of the rural and remote rural Southern communities in which these families are being asked to achieve wage-based self-sufficiency (see Lobao, 1996). Although poverty and welfare reliance are disproportionately concentrated in both urban centers and in remote rural areas, poverty and welfare research to date has focused on urban areas (Jensen & Tienda, 1989; Task Force, 1993). …

Widening Women's Work in Information and Communication Technology

Abstract: Why are there so few women among the professionals of information and communication technology (ICT)? What are the barriers to women choosing and developing careers in ICT professions, and what changes are likely to improve their access and position in this labour market? This European project (Information Society Technologies, 5th Framework Programme) hinges on the development of an integrated approach to the different aspects of gender disparity in the ICT professions. It combines explanatory factors linked to education and training, with the conditions of work and employment, and with the technical and professional culture of ICT. Research teams in seven countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and United Kingdom) have carried out in-depth empirical studies. They suggest targeted recommendations for agents of change in this area.

Does mother tongue make for women's work? Linguistics, household labor, and gender identity

Abstract: This paper studies the formation and persistence of gender identity in a sample of U.S. immigrants. We show that gender roles are acquired early in life, and once established, persist regardless of how long an individual has lived in the U.S. We use a novel approach relying on linguistic variation and document that households with individuals whose native language emphasizes gender in its grammatical structure are significantly more likely to allocate household tasks on the basis of sex and to do so more intensively. We present evidence of two mechanisms for our observed associations – that languages serve as cultural markers for origin country norms or that features of language directly influence cognition and behavior. Our findings do not appear to be driven by plausible alternatives such as selection in migration and marriage markets, as gender norms of behavior are evident even in the behavior of single person households.

Women’s Work and Divorce: A Matter of Anticipation? A Research Note

Abstract: The most common hypothesis on the positive association between wives’ work and divorce is that the wife’s work increases the risk of divorce. Critics argue that the causal direction is the other way around and that women adjust their working hours in anticipation of divorce. These competing hypotheses are tested by comparing the effects of wives’ work between divorces that differ in the extent to which they were expected. Because women who do not expect to divorce are not able to adjust their working efforts prior to divorce, it is argued that, if anticipatory behaviour plays a role, the effect of wives’ work should be smaller when the divorce was unexpected. The results lend weak support for anticipatory behaviour. The effect of wives’ full-time work is smaller for unexpected divorces. However, the effect of full-time work is also relatively strong when the divorce was fully unexpected. Moreover, the effects of wives’ work and working hours do not differ significantly between divorces varying in the extent to which they were expected. These findings suggest that there is something about wives’ work that increases the divorce risk.