Part-time occupational mobility in the service industries: regulation, work commitment and occupational closure

Whether stereotypical perceptions of part‐time workers’ commitment to work are accurate is a matter of contention. Commentators such as Hakim (1996 ) suggest that full‐ and part‐time workers have qualitatively different orientations to work, while others ( Fagan 2001 ) argue that, as most women work full‐ and part‐time over the life course, such a view is overly static. This paper investigates firms’ structuring of part‐time work, focusing specifically upon the processes through which part‐time work becomes marginalized. It is argued here that the organisational context and use of part‐time work mediate managers’ and full‐time workers’ perceptions of part‐time workers’ commitment to work and together, these factors structure part‐time workers’ selection for career development. The paper argues for making conceptual distinctions between legislation, organisational policies and workplace practices in understanding patterns of change and, more importantly, continuity in the use and structuring of part‐time work. Furthermore it is argued that the stratification of part‐time work can be explained through processes of informal occupational closure.