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.

The Secretary: Invisible Labor in the Workworld of Women

Abstract: Previous studies of secretarial work in organizations have reported a discrepancy between formally acknowledged roles and actual labor performed. In addition, many clerical jobs have been neither successfully routinized nor rationalized. As in other areas of women's work, articulation and categorization of tasks has been stunted by lack of language to adequately describe them. This analysis examines the character of secretarial work based on data from secretaries working in organizations of different size and at various levels of bureaucratic control. A typology of secretarial labor is presented that reflects a corresponding continuum of clear definition and formal recognition by organizations. Some of this ambiguity is accounted for by the fact that gender expectations are interwoven into the work role. Much of secretarial labor, including intellectual and emotional aspects of the work, are "invisible" to organizations, yet are essential to fulfilling organizational and professional goals.

Entrepreneurs at Home: Secluded Muslim Women and Hidden Economic Activities in Northern Nigeria

Abstract: Muslim women are frequently perceived as oppressed and subjugated people with marginal, or even counterproductive, economic role in the society. The paper argues that the Muslim Hausa women in Northern Nigeria, through hidden economic activities in their households, can bypass the open market and contribute significantly to the economic progress of the society. The paper also argues on the basis of the comparison between Muslim and nonMuslim women that Islam does not inhibit economic activities of Muslim Hausa women. Differences between Muslim and non-Muslim women were found. While strictly secluded Muslim women were hardly found in factories, they contributed to the economy by involving themselves in the hidden informal economic sector. (Ed.)