Institutional Ethnography and Experience as Data

Experience, as concept, is contested among feminists as to its epistemological status, thus its usefulness in knowledge claims. Institutional ethnography (Smith 1987) is a feminist methodology that nonetheless relies fundamentally on people's experience. Not as Truth, nor the object of inquiry, but as thepoint d'appui for sociological inquiry. This article offers a demonstration of institutional enthnography using observational and interview data that show experience as methodologically central to a trustworthy analysis. A moment in the work lives of nursing assistants in a long-term care setting is captured by a participant observer. The analysis produces two lines of argument. One is methodological; it is argued that nursing assistants' experiences are an entry into the social relations of the setting that, when mapped and disclosed, make those experiences understandable in terms of the ruling arrangements permeating both the organization and their own experiences. The other argument is substantive; the inquiry uncovers how a quality improvement' strategy in a long term care hospital in Canada is reorganizing caregivers' values and practices toward a market orientation in which care appears to be compromised. Use of experience as data in this approach holds the analysis accountable to everyday/everynight actualities in a lived world.     

Asian Women,Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets

This paper examines the entry of Asian immigrant women into a gendered labor market via government-funded job training programs. The focus is on the intake processing of clients into an employment training program operated by a community based organization. The study reveals that women's family responsibilities and the cultural capital they bring function to screen them into or out of training programs and ultimately shape their location in the workforce. The study thus draws attention to how race, class, and gender enter into the organization of Asian immigrant women into the labor market. This investigation is based in institutional ethnography (Smith 1987), a research strategy which displays how activities in a particular setting are coordinated with more extended forms of social organization. The study shows that the overriding concern with successful placement in a job as mandated by government regulations is a critical factor in selecting the women for these programs.     

The Limitations and Opportunities of Business Process Re-engineering in a Politicized Organizational Climate

This paper is concerned with the organizationalchange and project management issues raised by theimplementation of a business process re-engineering(BPR) approach in the politicized hospital context. This is a report of research in progress,focusing on the issues arising at the problem definitionand project planning stages of a BPR application in anoperating theaters department experiencing problems with scheduling and delays. The research designrelies on a case study approach, with the researcher asparticipant observer, as both an adviser to the projectteam and as field interviewer. The paper argues that an ambitious BPR agenda is compromised inat least two regards. First, the lack of precisionsurrounding the focus and methodology of BPR givespolitically motivated actors considerable influence with respect to defining terms of reference in wayswhich will shape potential outcomes in their favor.Second, the complexity and indeterminacy of the businessprocess or patient trail can also diluteredesign attempts. The principal limitations of theapproach thus concern the impracticality of embarking onrapid and radical change working from a blanksheet of paper with respect to organizational and job design. BPR, unlike other organizationdevelopment interventions, is not a contextsensitive approach. The role of project manageris critical in establishing a working balance betweenindividual, occupational, and organizational goals in a manner perceivedto be legitimate in the context. Effective BPR projectmanagement thus requires a combination of political andprocess analysis skills. The principal opportunities of BPR derive from its process orientation,which brings a fresh perspective to a traditionally andfunctionally fragmented organizational setting, andwhich presents a potentially valuable platform for anevolutionary approach to process improvement.     

Professor mom: Woman's work in a man's world

This essay identifies parallels between the traits assigned to gender work roles and the teaching/research division of labor at research universities. The character and definition of undergraduate teaching at research universities is very similar to what has often been described as women's work.     

Homework and domestic work

This study assesses two competing theories about the extent to which homework—paid work in the home—helps integrate work and domestic roles for men and women. Contrasting male and female homeworkers with their counterparts working outside the home, it supports some aspects of both the resource and role overload theories, but predominantly the role overload perspective. Homeworkers, especially in the working class, experience less interference between job and family life, but perform more housework and child care. They have no more leisure time nor greater marital satisfaction than those working outside the home, but receive more family assistance with their paid jobs, suggesting that they combine tasks from their first and second shifts. Working at home does not break down gender roles in domestic life. Despite time saved from commuting, male homeworkers perform no more housework than comparable men working outside the home. Thus, the gender division of unpaid household labor is not simply a matter of resources or spatial logistics.An earlier version was presented at the meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society, Providence, Rhode Island, April 1991.     

非工作时间连通行为对幼儿园教师工作压力的影响：工作-生活冲突的中介和编制身份的调节作用

为探讨非工作时间连通行为与幼儿园教师工作压力的关系及其内在机制,选取浙江省某3市的幼儿园教师244名,使用非工作时间连通行为量表、教师工作压力量表、工作-生活冲突量表进行调查。结果发现：非工作时间连通行为与幼儿园教师工作压力呈显著正相关;工作-生活冲突在非工作时间连通行为与幼儿园教师工作压力间起中介作用;编制身份能够调节非工作时间连通行为与工作压力的关系。基于此,幼儿园管理者应当为幼儿园教师划定工作-生活界限,赋予教师“离线权”;避免身份偏见,合理分配工作任务;明确幼儿园教师职业定位,回归教育本身。     

中日秘书工作特点之比较

受体制的影响 ,中国的秘书和秘书工作与日本相比存在较大的差异。主要表现在从业人员的组成、行业化、性别特点、自动化程度等四个方面。相比较之下 ,日本在这些方面更规范 ,更符合现代社会对秘书和秘书工作的要求。而改变中国的秘书和秘书工作现状则应从推行资格证书制度、建立秘书组织、提高秘书素质、改善工作手段等方面入手 ,使之更适应社会发展     

自主·主动·创造——谈当代文学教学中学生主体性的弘扬

本文从自主性、主动性、创造性三个方面论述了当代文学教学中学生主体性弘扬的方法、途径及其意义。     

南京市自主创新能力的现状分析

运用企业自主创新能力的评价指标体系,对南京市自主创新能力水平进行纵向和横向比较,可以比较好地把握其自主创新能力的现状。通过对南京市近四年自主创新能力指标的纵向比较,不难发现除了自主创新环境之外,南京市的自主创新资源、自主创新活动以及自主创新产出能力均有较大幅度的增长;通过将南京市与三大科技竞争力较强的城市自主创新能力指标进行横向比较,指出了南京市在自主创新能力上存在的突出问题。一是工业增加值率过低,二是研发经费过低。并在此基础上提出一系列对策和建议。对于提高南京自主创新能力水平,无疑具有重大的理论意义和现实意义。     

2006年北京地区大学应届毕业生职业价值观调查研究

本研究旨在考察当代大学毕业生的择业意向与职业价值观。本研究以2006年北京地区大学应届毕业生为研究对象,使用自编的问卷调查了北京25所大学的425名应届毕业生。调查结果揭示,当代大学生看重的职业价值观呈现8因子的结构模型,同时本文探讨了影响大学生择业的因素,并以此为基础考察我国青年学生择业标准的变迁及其原因。最后,根据调查结果对学校、政府和企业提出了建议。