Gender Relations
Corrina Arsenault
March 11, 2002
Introduction
Occupational gender segregation is a popular discussion within sociological research. However, one cannot engage this topic without considering the impact of gendered divisions of labour in the home. The two subjects are inevitably intertwined. To discuss one without the other is to exclude a very large part of the overall picture. This essay will review the research paper Job Segregation and Gender Differences in Work-Family Spillover Among White-Collar Workers by David Maume and Paula Houston (2001). The research paper itself displays the link between work and domestic labour and its impact on women's career outcomes. First, I introduce the authors' hypothesis that occupational structure performs a function of social control, enforcing occupational gender segregation. Next, I discuss the authors' research methodology. Following that, I review the authors' significant research findings and their implications. Finally, I discuss the role of institutional process and gendered divisions of labour in the enforcement of occupational gender segregation and experiences of work to family conflict for employees, methodological complications that may result from inconsistent definitions of domestic labour and variations in racial demographics, and the role of social support and self-efficacy in reducing experiences of work to family interference for women.
Context
Maume & Houston (2001) examine the ways in which women are excluded from prestigious and male dominated occupational categories. Their review of current research literature reveals that occupational gender segregation produces more negative consequences for women's employment outcomes than for men's. In particular, the literature suggests that occupational gender segregation hampers women's efforts to achieve economic parity with men. Furthermore, Maume & Houston (2001) notice that current research literature overlooks the relationship between occupational compositions and increased work pressure that effectively segregates women into occupational categories more accommodating of their family roles. Surprisingly, organizations have been slow to change their policies and offer family friendly benefits that would allow employees to effectively balance work and family responsibilities.
The literature illustrates a bureaucratic work structure as requiring long work hours because 1. work is often accomplished in teams, and 2. the difficulty of assessing the productivity of individuals leads organizations to identify longer hours as evidence of commitment to employers and productivity. More importantly, "many contend that male-dominated white-collar jobs are gendered in that women are considered incapable of putting in the "face time" needed to be successful in their careers. Child-rearing and domestic duties are believed to interfere with the long workweeks required of a successful executive" (Bailyn, 1993; Stroh, Brett, & Reilly, 1996; as quoted by Maume & Houston, 2001). Maume & Houston's (2001) research documents employees' perceptions of spillover between work and family obligations. Additionally, they measure spillover as an effective form of social control that women encounter in male-dominated jobs. The spillover is experienced as a form of stress that pressures women to retreat into sex appropriate roles and occupations. Maume and Houston hypothesize that women in sex-atypical jobs will experience more tension between work and family responsibilities than men will.
Methodology Data for this study was extracted from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW). Random-dial telephone interviews were conducted. Self-employed individuals, individuals older than 66 years of age, individuals living alone, and respondents with missing data were immediately deleted from the sample. The sample was additionally restricted to employees holding technical, professional, managerial, and sales occupations. The final sample included 1,090 cases available for the purpose of analysis. The first dependent variable was perceptions of work to family spillover. This was measured using a five-item index (never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often) in which the respondent identified with five statements presented as a measure of work interference. Respondents were also asked what percentage of their immediate work group was like them in terms of sex, race or ethnicity. These response categories ranged from one (100 percent of coworkers had similar demographic traits) to six (0 percent of coworkers had similar demographic traits). This category was designed to measure job segregation. Respondents were asked to identify the typical amount of time spent per week in work-related activities for their employer. Controls were also added to supplement the researchers' understanding of the respondent perception of work-family spillover. These controls included whether respondents were married to homemakers, part-time workers, or full-time workers; number of children under 18 living in the respondent's household; the respondent's age; and the respondent's race. Level of education was measured using a six category ordinal scale and employees were categorized into salaried or hourly wage earners. To assess job autonomy, respondents evaluated three statements using a four point Likert scale (Strongly disagree to strongly agree). Respondents also identified whether or not they worked in the public sector. Finally, respondents identified a family supportive work culture by using a four point Likert scale in which they evaluated four statements.
Significance
Maume & Houston (2001) identify job autonomy and working in a supportive work culture as determinants of lower spillover for both men and women. However, larger numbers of children increase spillover perceptions among women. Because the variation of mens' working hours is smaller than womens', an increase of working hours marginally increases perceptions of work to family spillover for men. However, the increase of work hours combined with consistent levels of domestic responsibilities lead to higher levels of perceived work-family interference among women. Not surprisingly, as women become more of a token in their workplace, they report higher levels of work-family interference. Maume & Houston (2001) suggest that expectations to conform to male defined organizational practices and competition facilitates this result. Unexpectedly, however, the interaction of longer workweeks and increased levels of occupational segregation facilitate a reduction in perceptions of work to family conflict among women. According to the research, this result is not determined by increased financial resources, additional benefits on the job, or greater power in the home. It is also not the result of "synergy": participation in multiple roles that expands one's energy and promotes positive well-being. Although the research cannot definitively isolate the causal factor that produces this result, Maume & Houston (2001) entertain arguments that these token woman see themselves as people who have overcome discrimination by choosing to work hard and have proven their dedication and capabilities through hard work. This argument contends that to acknowledge a demanding job creates problems at home may be an admission of a wrong choice. Thus, these women will deny their jobs encroach upon their personal lives. Maume & Houston (2001) suggest that if women are required to adopt male definitions of work effectiveness and success to reach senior levels of organizations, this cannot lead us to expect more "family friendly" policies in future. As long as productivity is positively related to time at work, gender parity in the workplace will never be achieved and women's contributions will not be rewarded appropriately.
Occupational Gender Segregation
In a fashion comparable to Gray's (1984) anti-sexist rhetoric that challenged his co-workers' perceptions and stereotypes of women's physical limitations in the manufacturing industry, Maume & Houston (2001) challenge the institutional processes that have been known to constrain women's occupational opportunities. Lowe discusses the concept of occupational gender segregation, a social pattern that provides men and women with differentiated opportunities and rewards in the labour market. Lowe contends that men have dominated the more challenging and lucrative occupational fields by instilling a success criteria that is male-biased (Kanter, 1977; Powell, 1993; CCWE, 1992; as quoted by Lowe, 1999: 122). Maume & Houston (2001) agree, citing the common policy that evaluates an employee's work performance in positive relation to the number of hours he or she spends in the workplace as a form of systemic discrimination against women. Childcare and domestic commitments are believed to interfere with the long hours required of a successful executive (Bailyn, 1993; Stroh, Brett, & Reilly, 1996; as quoted by Maume & Houston, 2001:175). This criteria frequently subjects female employees to greater levels of work to family interference than experienced by male employees.
Work to Family Conflict
Maume & Houston (2001) argue that the "culture of overtime" in male dominated occupational fields is a form of social control that keeps women from penetrating upper echelons of the labour markets and from reaching wage parity with men. Researchers such as Lowe (1999), Hochschild (1989), and Pupo (1999) are among the many that agree the structure of many good jobs are incompatible with childcare and domestic responsibilities. "Until the workplace changes to accommodate the fact that we are now a society in which men and women participate full-time, we will not achieve the goal of equality" (New York Times, 1999). Central to this issue is the perseverance of traditional gender roles in the domestic sphere: women still assume responsibility for the majority of household labour and childcare (Hochschild,1989). Pupo (1999) discusses findings that women experience higher levels of time-crunch stress than their male partners because they take primary responsibility for housework and childcare. Maume & Houston contextualize these findings by reporting that "as job demands accumulate, women in male-dominated workgroups are more likely to report work-family conflict" (2001:183).
Gendered Division of Labour
Greenstein (2000) reports that wives perform greater proportions of household tasks in families where wives earn significantly less than their husbands and in families where wives earn significantly more than their husbands. Greenstein (2000) further argues that although there is a positive relationship between economic dependence and greater contributions to housework for women, a deviance neutralization process takes place when the husband is economically dependent on his wife. Martin (1993) examples families where mothers and fathers experience conflicting emotions when exchanging traditionally gendered tasks: fathers report feeling insecure when making decisions involving childcare and household matters; mothers report difficulty relinquishing control over domestic matters. However, Pupo contradicts this finding, reporting that "unemployed men with employed wives undertake almost 40% of the traditionally female housekeeping tasks and that their contribution to household work is therefore substantially greater than other men's" (Brayfield, 1992; as quoted by Pupo, 1999: 168).
Domestic Labour
This contradiction between the authors' research findings could be the result of inconsistent methodologies. For example, Greenstein (2000) measures levels of housework by the number of hours spent by husbands and wives on tasks that omit childcare responsibilities. If Brayfield (1992; as quoted by Pupo, 1999: 168) includes childcare tasks in her measurement of domestic labour, this may suggest unemployed men undertake significantly larger portions of childcare responsibilities as opposed to general cleaning tasks. Much of the research literature that discusses gendered division of labour is divided over definitions of housework. Whereas Hochschild (1989) differentiates between housekeeping and childcare tasks, Pupo (1999) does not clearly differentiate between the two. This may be due to methodological complications in measuring and clearly defining these two overlapping categories. Hochschild (1989) has reported that women frequently perform two tasks simultaneously such as cook while helping the kids with homework.
The Race Variable
As well, Greenstein's (2000) research provides a population sample that is 8% African American, 6% Hispanic, and 86% white. If Brayfield's (1992; as quoted by Pupo, 1999: 168) research contains a larger heterogeneous sample, there is likely to be significant differences in contributions to domestic labour reported by men and women. Many researchers have found black men more likely to participate in domestic labour than white men (Blaisure & Allen, 1995; Broman, 1988,1993; Suitor, 1991; as quoted by Dillaway & Broman, 2001: 320). This may be indicative of the historically tentative economic structure of black families that required more women to assume the breadwinner role and men to assume childcare responsibilities. Calliste provides an overview of the history of African-Canadian families and illustrates some of their survival strategies: "Given the lack of employment opportunities for African-Nova Scotian men in the early 1800's, many families practised gender interdependence and reversals of traditional gender roles in the division of labour" (2001:402). In other words, women supported their families on a domestic's wages while men provided the childcare. Equally significant is Tienda's claim the occupational distribution of black and white women converged during the 1970's but has reversed since 1980. Although Asian women have benefited from an increased demand for skilled labour, black and Hispanic women have actually experienced a decreased demand for their labour (New York Times, 1999). These articles support Dillaway & Broman's (2001) conclusion that race significantly influences the gendered division of labour in families.
Social Support
However, Maume & Houston (2001) also discover the interaction of long work hours and increasing segregation results in lower levels of work to family conflict for their research subjects. While investigating possible causes for this indiscrepancy, they conclude it is not the benefit of increased financial resources, additional benefits, or greater power in the home. This finding may be influenced by a number of factors. Erdwins et al. (2001) document a positive relationship between social support, role satisfaction, and self-efficacy with a lower incidence of work to family conflict. Complementary to this finding is Hochschild's (1989) conclusion that couples who share housework and childcare more equitably are considerably happier than those in which the wife works full time and completes most of these domestic tasks. Erdwins et al. support this view with research that links support from husbands to lower conflict between work and family. In addition, Erdwins et al. reveal a significant relationship between perceived support from immediate supervisors and lower conflict between work and family. "It also is possible that a supervisor's attitudes about work-family issues may significantly impact a woman's willingness or even her ability to make use of family-friendly resources or policies offered by her employer" (Thompson, Thomas, & Maier, 1992; as quoted by Erdwins et al., 2001: 236). This finding suggests some women are intimidated from utilizing resources available to them through their organization by the immediate supervisor. If such is the case, little will be gained from policy changes recommended by Hochschild (1989) and Pupo (1999) without a change in public attitudes.
Conclusion
There are various socialization and institutional processes that reinforce gender roles in all societies and reinforce segregation in the workplace. One of those processes results from the structure of upper level white collar professional occupations dominated by men. As long as women continue performing the majority of household and childcare tasks, as long as women continue to accept those tasks as their responsibility, they will experience higher levels of work to family interference. As long as women experience higher levels, they will be barred, by employers and themselves, from reaching upper levels of corporate management and economic parity with men. In addition, many researchers have found that equitable divisions of household labour results in increased perceptions of self-efficacy, happier marriages, and fewer experiences of work to family interference. Finally, it is important to contextualize research findings with the racial variable. As we have seen here, experiences between racial groups are varied and have the potential to significantly impact research outcomes.
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