‘Caring/Sharing’: Gender and Horizontal Co‐ordination in the Workplace

Classical organizational theory assumes a hierarchical structure and the vertical co‐ordination of work. Horizontal co‐ordination between organizational participants is currently recognized only at upper and middle organizational levels. This qualitative study of workers at the lowest rungs of the organizational hierarchy finds that they do engage in horizontal co‐ordination by working together in ways that are invisible. This study also finds differences between same‐sex work groups in how they perceive working together. The caring/sharing phenomenon describes the sharing of work, and the implementation of horizontal co‐ordination, undertaken in the context of caring relationships among work colleagues, all of whom were women. Women and men working in same‐sex work groups differ in their conceptions of how those work groups form and how they function. The findings from this study indicate that common conceptions of teams and teamwork may in fact be male norms of horizontal co‐ordination.     

The Social Worker as Transdisciplinary Professional: A Reflective Account

The transdisciplinary key worker model requires early childhood intervention professionals to make radical adjustment in their respective scopes of knowledge and practice. Focused on the author’s brief experience in a key worker role, the article highlights challenges and contradictions that arise when health and welfare professionals are expected not only to exchange knowledge, skills, and expertise, but also to perform each other’s work. Two contextual, reflective accounts of the reasons why social workers should be cautious in task transfers in transdisciplinary teams are given. The article renews support for social workers playing professionally appropriate roles in early childhood intervention teams in ways that can protect best service delivery to children with disability and their families.     

Teamarbeit und Gesundheit – Der Einfluss von Teammerkmalen auf Stressbewältigung und Gesundheit bei Un- und Angelernten

To date, research on teamwork and health is sparse. This accounts for teams with low-qualified workers in particular. In this paper a work psychological model for resource and stress management in teams and a study with teams of low-qualified workers are presented (N?=?265 in 33 teams). Results of multi-level analyses show, that team resources in the social work system and understaffing in teams as a team stressor have significant influence on collective coping and explain team differences. Further, team resources in the technical work system, i.e. the quality of teamwork design have significant influence on psychosomatic complaints. These influences go beyond the influences of socio-demographic variables and individual job stressors and job resources.     

South African social workers' knowledge of attachment theory and their perceptions of attachment relationships in foster care supervision

Despite the prominence of attachment theory in international foster care literature and the importance of attachment relationships in successful foster care, attachment theory and practices do not feature prominently in South African foster care research. Against this backdrop, we interviewed twenty South African social workers' about their knowledge of attachment theory and their perceptions of attachment relationships in their own foster care work. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interviews. We found that the social workers had limited knowledge of attachment theory and interventions; experienced most biological parents as unmotivated to improve their circumstances and attachment relationships with children; indicated that family reunifications were rare occurrences; reported foster parents were mostly kin; and experienced constraining contextual factors that hindered optimal consideration of attachment relationships in foster care supervision.     

‘It's a Man's World!’: Restructuring Gender Imbalance in the Volvo Truck Company?

The paper seeks to analyse the relationship between teamwork and gender, in particular how far the new technical division of labour associated with teamwork holds out the prospect of lessening gender segregation in the capitalist labour process. Taking Volvo — a company at the forefront of ‘good work’ experiments — as the focus of the research one could reasonably expect that if teamwork was leading to a lessening of gender segregation in blue collar areas it would be in companies such as Volvo. The evidence suggests that in certain areas and under certain conditions teamworking can lead to more women being employed in blue collar environments on the same terms and conditions as men. However, on adding a normative and governance dimension to teamworking, the evidence is more complex and is suggestive of a strategy drawing upon the utilization of stereotypical images of women as a ‘civilizing’ influence over male workers in a de-layered organizational environment lacking direct first line supervision. The paper is divided into three substantive sections. The first section will sketch out the development of work organization in the Volvo organization to be followed in the second by a review of the gender segregation literature. The third section of the paper will, through an analysis of Volvo's Commercial Vehicle Division, assess how far teamwork has challenged traditional forms of gender segregation in the capitalist labour process.     

Social work students’ professional and personal exposure to social work: an Australian experience

General career research suggests that many factors may influence how people select a career, including information about or exposure to the career. The focus of this paper is upon how exposure to a social worker personally (e.g. friend or family) or in a therapeutic capacity (e.g. received social work therapy) may influence the decision to become a social worker, when compared to other disciplines. The results showed that 63% of 64 social work students had personal and/or professional exposure to social work prior to making a career decision. When compared to other students (n?=?447) the social work students were significantly more likely to have accessed social work services (themselves or a family member). The influence of a friend who was a social worker and working with a social worker was noteworthy for mature-aged students. These results highlight that every interaction social workers have with the community provides valuable information about the profession and gives insight into social work as a career. Additionally, the results suggest that the increase in numbers of social workers and the influence of that exposure to a social worker have resulted in an increase in the use of social work services by students, and may continue to rise in the future.     

Do self‐assessment and self‐directed support undermine traditional social work with disabled people?

In recent years, self‐assessment and self‐directed support have become mainstream options within disability services. The Disabled People’s Movement has advocated the need for such change for a long time but this has been persistently resisted by many social workers. In this article, it will be argued that both self‐assessment and self‐directed support undermine traditional social work and that social workers need to begin to work alongside disabled people, rather than ‘for’ disabled people, in order to achieve substantial system change.     

Gendering the Eye of the Norm: Exploring Gendered Concertive Control Processes in Two Self‐Managing Teams

This article is the result of an ethnographic research project exploring the workplace interactions of two self‐managed teams of recruitment consultants. I use data from participant observation and recorded interviews to show the gendered nature of what Barker terms concertive control: the social processes by which team members regulate each others' conduct in line with negotiated team values. My analysis examines how team members negotiate core team values, translate these into specific actions and regulate these actions through concertive control interactions. I then set out three ways in which gender acts as a resource for these concertive control processes. These are: team members' assumptions about men's and women's relative skills and capacities, the ‘tough’ masculinity of the haulage industry in which one of the teams operates and the regulation of performances of heterosexuality during customer interactions. Building on research by others, I show gender to be not only embedded in the values and managerial style associated with teamwork but also integrated into the collaborative process of team‐working itself. I emphasize that social categories like gender become resources in the regulation of conduct at work and can reify hierarchies even in so‐called participative practices like self‐managed teamwork.     

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual foster parents: strengths and challenges for the child welfare system

Historically, a shortage of skilled and dedicated foster parents has existed in America. Lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LBG) foster parents have received little attention in the published literature. This article documents the challenges and successes of a group of 60 LGB foster parents. All participants provided foster parenting for public (state or county) agencies. The primary successes of this group included meaningful and gratifying parenting and successful testing of whether adoption might be a natural next step after foster parenting. The primary challenges included insensitive, inappropriate, and difficult social workers; state or local laws that worked against successful foster parenting by LGB adults; failure to recognize parents' partners; and lack of support by the system to acknowledge the important role of LGB parents. Numerous recommendations are identified for improving how LGB foster parents are supported within child welfare systems including foster parent and social worker training in LGB issues.     

Gender In/equality in Worker‐owned Businesses

Gender scholars have developed a significant body of scholarship on the reproduction of gender inequality in work organizations. However, the vast majority of that research has been conducted in non‐profit organizations or in employer‐owned businesses. In this article, we review the existing literature on gender in worker‐owned businesses. We begin by defining three distinctly different types of worker‐owned businesses: companies with employee stock ownership plans, worker cooperatives, and communes. Next we review the limited research on gender inequality in each of these organizational forms. The current literature finds that women benefit from working in these alternative organizations, but gender disparities nevertheless persist due to occupational segregation and the devaluation of domestic work. Exceptions are those organizations with strong ties to feminism and those with formal power‐sharing policies. Granted the scarcity of research on this topic, however, these conclusions are tentative. We conclude with a discussion of areas for further research.     

Sex Work in a Digital Era

In recent years, scholars have begun to investigate the role of digital technologies, namely the Internet, in facilitating growth in sexual commerce. Recent studies investigate the ways the Internet shapes the experiences of sex workers and how sex workers use the Internet to maximize profits and reduce risk exposure. Overall, scholars strategically frame sex work in a digital era in terms of affordances. In doing so, they can note the positive changes in the work experiences of these workers. However, I argue that this literature is altogether too optimistic, and in focusing primarily on the affordances of Internet‐based sex work, these scholars neglect the new dangers that emerge online. In addition, by focusing only on the online practices of escorts, these scholars paint a homogenized portrait of digital sex work and neglect the diversity of labor performed by sex workers. This literature also neglects the diversity among sex workers themselves (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, and ability). In order to address these limitations, I make nine specific suggestions for future lines of inquiry.     

Motivating Russian workers: analysis of age and gender differences

What motivates Russians to work? Two hypotheses govern this analysis. First, worker motivation is positively correlated with organizational commitment, where organizational commitment is captured by a series of statements related to the employee’s perception of their workplace and the satisfaction expressed about the workplace and job. Second, worker motivation is positively correlated to the expectation that a desired reward will be received in exchange for doing the job well. Using survey data collected in May/June 2000 from 1200 employees in three regions of Russia, this paper: (1) documents the nature and scope of organizational commitment among Russian workers as the transition process draws to a close; (2) identifies the relative importance of select job motivators, as well as the expectation that these motivators will be received in exchange for a job well done; and (3) analyzes the extent of gender and generational differences in organizational commitment and worker motivation. The results can be used not only to begin filling a gap in the motivation literature by extending previous analyses based on US workers, but also to inform Russian and foreign managers about monetary and non-monetary factors to include in designing an effective reward structure. The results also are suitable for use in management training programs in Russia and elsewhere which focus on developing ways to construct more effective teamwork at the workplace.     

Job stress and productivity increase

This paper examines mental and physical pressures that workers bear at work. The authors discuss how on the-job stress affects a person's capabilities and productivity, and how such pressures lend to higher incidences of accidents at work. The paper also discuss methods of reducing job-related stress and increasing productivity. An intervention was conducted amongst workers in a private firm. It shows mental and emotional pressure can affect performance and productivity of a worker on the job. One of the biggest influences of today's worker is on the-job stress. Job stress occurs when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. This consequently affects how a person would normally deal with customer service problems, grievances, violence, conflict, and decisions on the job. Stress is an inevitable part of everyday life, and is therefore a distinct part of a person's job. To properly control the outcome of stress, there are certain precautions and methods that should be taken that will boost productivity.     

The frontline delivery of activation: workers’ preferences and their antecedents

This article intends to contribute to the increasing body of academic literature on the frontline delivery of activation policies. In line with the broader literature on frontline work, this literature focuses attention on frontline delivery practices and preferences and how these can be explained. Activation work is an interesting case in this context, because activation workers’ jobs designs vary considerably and workers have a diversity of educational backgrounds (including but not limited to social work) in the many countries that have implemented activation policies. This article looks at workers’ preferences rather than actual delivery practices. It analyses how job design and educational background are related to workers’ preferences concerning servicing clients, managing activation workers and spending time on various activation-related activities. Although the findings of the research that are presented in the article show that educational background and job design play only a modest role as antecedents of workers’ preferences, future research into this issue remains interesting. For it may help to increase our insights into the optimal match between what activation aims to achieve and how the provision of activation is organized on the one hand, and workers’ skills/qualifications and job design on the other hand.     

The effects of co-operating or conflicting over work restructuring: evidence from employees

This paper examines patterns of worker response to the introduction of teamworking at two similar large work sites. We consider whether the patterns of response are significantly different where change has been introduced through a more cooperative or a more conflictual bargaining process. In the cooperative negotiations that more typified one site, trade unions made concessions, generating both dissatisfaction with the terms under which teams were introduced and a decline in job satisfaction. At the site more characterised by conflictual negotiations, employees were more satisfied with teamworking after unions protected manning in teams, negotiated a pay increase for more workers and the side payment of a desired 12‐hours shift pattern. The findings indicate how response to workplace change depended upon the terms under which teams were introduced, in turn shaped in important part by the process of negotiating change.     

The Role of Social Support in the Transition From Foster Care to Emerging Adulthood

Many youth leave foster care with disrupted relationships with their family and others in their social networks. Previous research has documented the severe adversity that former foster youth face in the transition to young adulthood. Perhaps some difficulties are at least partially related to a lack of social support that results from frayed relationships. This article reviews the literature on social support, particularly as it relates to foster youth, for the purpose of examining the role that formal and informal supports play in the transition to adulthood. The implications of this literature for successful transitions for former foster youth are discussed, as well as ways child welfare workers can engage youth and their families, and help them develop supportive social networks.     

Occupational Sex Segregation and Part‐time Work in Modern Britain

It is often argued that women's full‐time work is becoming less gender segregated, while their part‐time work becomes more so. This article looks cross‐sectionally and longitudinally at the relationship between occupational sex segregation and part‐time work. An innovative application of segregation curves and the Gini index measures segregation between women full‐timers and men and between women part‐timers and men. Both fell between 1971 and 1991, as did overall occupational sex segregation. These results were used to contextualize a longitudinal analysis showing how shifts between full‐time and part‐time hours affected women's experiences of occupational sex segregation and vertical mobility. Human capital explanations see full‐time and part‐time workers as distinct groups whose occupational choices reflect anticipated family roles. The plausibility of this emphasis on long‐term strategic planning is challenged by substantial and characteristic patterns of occupational mobility when women switch between full‐time and part‐time hours. The segmented nature of part‐time work meant that women who switched to part‐time hours, usually over child rearing, were often thrown off their occupational path into low‐skilled, feminized work. There was some ‘occupational recovery’ when they resumed full‐time work.     

Teaching and Learning Guide for “Gender In/equality in Worker‐owned Businesses”

This teaching and learning guide accompanies the article, “Gender In/equality in Worker‐owned Businesses,” which reviews existing literature on gender in businesses with employee stock ownership plans, worker cooperatives, and communes. Worker ownership has attracted renewed interest as a possible solution to the social and economic problems confronting our society. In worker‐owned businesses, workers have greater control over what they produce, how they produce it, and how they are compensated. If workers ran things themselves, so the story goes, jobs would be better and workplaces would be more equal. What do we actually know about work in alternative organizations? Do women fare better? Can they offer alternatives or solutions to the gender inequality that permeates working life? This teaching and learning guide provides supplemental information to facilitate the use of this article in the classroom. This includes a list of recommended readings, online resources, a sample syllabus, focus questions, and project suggestions.     

The aesthetics of rock construction work: the beauty of sprayed concrete,rock reinforcement and roof bolting

The concepts of aesthetic and aesthetic knowledge have recently been appropriated and discussed in the organization theory literature. In this broader recognition of human skills and capacities complementing the conventional rational and logical modes of thinking prioritized in scientific thinking, a few studies reports how aesthetic knowledge is employed in areas not regularly associated with aesthetics, for instance computer programming or financial analysis. This paper reports how the concepts of aesthetic and aesthetic knowledge can be used to examine the work of qualified rock construction workers. Rather than being a skill that can be accommodated through training, the best rock construction workers have tacit know‐how that are not easily learned or transferred between co‐workers. Such skills are here referred to as aesthetic knowledge. The paper concludes that more studies of everyday work and aesthetic knowledge may be helpful when rethinking the nature of human and individual knowledge.