A panel study of married women's work patterns

In the attempt to overcome shortcomings of previous research on women's employment patterns, married women's employment behavior was examined successively over a five year period (1976–1981). Logistic regression and discriminant function analyses were performed on a sample of 366 wives in dual earner families from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Attitudes as well as work and family factors differentiated women who worked continuously full-time from women who worked either part-time or intermittently during the five year period. The findings are discussed in the context of social change and the impact of changing norms on married women's work patterns.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York, NY, August 1987. Comments and suggestions of Barbara A. Gutek are greatly appreciated.     

MATERNITY LEAVE, ROLE QUALITY, WORK INVOLVEMENT, AND MENTAL HEALTH ONE YEAR AFTER DELIVERY

Employment status, maternity leave, and role quality were investigated as predictors of women's mental health one year after delivery. Homemakers and part-time and full-time employees did not differ on measures of depression, anxiety, anger, or self-esteem. There were no main effects of leave length. Distress was associated with job overload, role restriction, and infant distress. Leave length interacted with the relative salience of work and family, and employment status interacted with employment preference to predict distress. Depression was greatest among women relatively high in work salience when leaves were long. Anxiety and anger were greatest among women whose employment status was not congruent with their preferences. These interactions underscore the importance of individual differences in responses to leave and work.     

The Relationship of Job Attribute Preferences to Employment, Hours of Paid Work, and Family Responsibilities: An Analysis Comparing Women and Men

We used 1997 International Social Survey Programme data from 14 countries to examine the relationship of job attribute preferences to family responsibilities, employment, and paid work hours. Separate regression analyses for women and men examined whether family responsibilities (marriage, children, spousal employment, and housework responsibility) predicted job attribute preferences. Many family responsibilities were significant predictors of men's and women's extrinsic and intrinsic preferences. Family responsibilities also predicted women's flexibility preferences. We next examined whether job attribute preferences were associated with employment and weekly paid work hours when family responsibilities were controlled. Job attribute preferences showed several significant relationships to women's and men's employment and several significant relationships to women's paid work hours.     

Life transitions and mental health in a national cohort of young Australian women

Young adulthood, a time of major life transitions and risk of poor mental health, may affect emotional well-being throughout adult life. This article uses longitudinal survey data to examine young Australian women's transitions across 4 domains: residential independence, relationships, work and study, and motherhood. Changes over 3 years in health-related quality of life, optimism, depressive symptoms, stress, and life satisfaction, were examined in relation to these transitions among 7,619 young adult participants in the nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Positive changes in mental health occurred for women moving into cohabitation and marriage, whereas reductions were observed among those experiencing marital separation or divorce and those taking on or remaining in traditionally "feminine" roles (out of the workforce, motherhood). The data suggest that women cope well with major life changes at this life stage, but reductions in psychological well-being are associated with some transitions. The findings suggest that preventive interventions to improve women's resilience and coping might target women undergoing these transitions and that social structures may not be providing sufficient support for women making traditional life choices.     

The "CEO" of women's work lives: how Big Five Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Openness predict 50 years of work experiences in a changing sociocultural context

Few long-term longitudinal studies have examined how dimensions of personality are related to work lives, especially in women. We propose a life-course framework for studying work over time, from preparatory activities (in the 20s) to descending work involvement (after age 60), using 50 years of life data from the women in the Mills Longitudinal Study. We hypothesized differential work effects for Extraversion (work as pursuit of rewards), Openness (work as self-actualization), and Conscientiousness (work as duty) and measured these 3 traits as predictor variables when the women were still in college. In a prospective longitudinal design, we then studied how these traits predicted the women's subsequent work lives from young adulthood to age 70 and how these effects depended on the changing sociocultural context. Specifically, the young adulthood of the Mills women in the mid-1960s was rigidly gender typed and family oriented; neither work nor education variables at that time were predicted from earlier personality traits. However, as women's roles changed, later work variables became related to all 3 traits, as expected from current Big Five theory and research. For example, early personality traits predicted the timing of involvement in work, the kinds of jobs chosen, and the status and satisfaction achieved, as well as continued work participation and financial security in late adulthood. Early traits were also linked to specific cultural influences, such as the traditional feminine role, the women's movement, and graduate education for careers.     

Job Pressures, Organizational Support, and Health Among Norwegian Women Managers

Questionnaire data were collected from 191 professional and managerial women in Norway. Measures included demographic and work characteristics, job pressures (hours worked, level of management, work-family conflict), organizational supports (acceptance, support, training and development, challenging and visible jobs), and health indicators (life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, emotional exhaustion). Emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints were combined into a stress index. Results indicated that women who experienced high role conflict and work-family pressures also reported poor health outcomes and little life satisfaction. Organizational initiatives to support and develop women's careers were associated with lower exhaustion and psychosomatic symptomatology and more life satisfaction. While the relationship between women's employment and physical and psychological well-being is not clear-cut, there is perhaps a need for organizations to focus on initiatives that will allow diversity in the choices women make with regard to involvement in careers and family, as well as a need to find ways to support and encourage such diversity. Not only may this have a beneficial effect on women workers' health and energy to use at work, but it may also make way for alternative career paths into top management positions for professional women.     

RESOURCE LOSS, RESOURCE GAIN, AND COMMUNAL COPING DURING PREGNANCY AMONG WOMEN WITH MULTIPLE ROLES

We investigated stress, coping, and employment status in 92, mostly European American pregnant women. Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1988, 1989) was applied as a specification of role-quality theory to examine the stressful influences of women's multiple roles. Women's resource loss predicted psychological distress better than either their resource gains or their employment status (i.e., multiple versus single roles). Full-time employed women were significantly more distressed under high loss conditions than were part-time or nonemployed women. Examining women's coping strategies based on a communal model of coping, we found that active, prosocial coping was associated with better emotional outcomes. A significant interaction was found for the effects of loss × cautious action such that loss was related to greater depression, but only among women who did not employ cautious action.     

should i stay at home or should i go back to work? workforce reentry influences on a mother's decision‐making process

The authors examine the literature pertaining to women's life transitions and the difficult decision‐making process some women encounter when reentering the workforce after a period of staying at home with young children. On the basis of the unique challenges faced by this population, the authors created a conceptual framework (i.e., the Mother's Reentry Into the Workforce Conceptual Framework) to demonstrate this difficult decision‐making process. The framework examines driving forces, filters, and outcomes specific to this population. Implications for employment counselors are shared. Group employment counseling is suggested as an ideal format to provide support to women during this transitional period.     

Women, careers, and work-life preferences

There are no sex differences in cognitive ability but enduring sex differences in competitiveness, life goals, the relative emphasis on agency versus connection. Policy-makers' and feminist emphasis on equal opportunities and family-friendly policies assumes that sex discrimination is the primary source of sex differentials in labour market outcomes—notably the pay gap between men and women. However, some careers and occupations cannot be domesticated—examples are given—and this also poses limits to social engineering. Recent research shows that high levels of female employment and family-friendly policies reduce gender equality in the workforce and produce the glass ceiling. Preference theory is the only theory that can explain these new trends, the continuing pay gap and occupational segregation. Preference theory implies that there are at least three types of career rather than one. However, the differences between men and women's career goals are smaller than sometimes thought.     

WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY

This essay reviews and synthesizes Jessie Bernard's writings on women, work, and family. Bernard's conceptualization of "two worlds"—one of women and one of men—provides the organizing theme, from which three major issues are derived: (a) the dilemmas of caring, (b) the feminization of work, and (c) work and family roles over the life course. Examining her historical perspective on these issues, her view of the present, and her vision of the future, the article raises unanswered questions in Bernard's work and suggests implications for future research on women's work and family roles.     

Perceptions of job characteristics and affective work outcomes for women and men

One hundred twenty-three men and women participated in a study designed to assess their attitudes about job dimensions and affective work outcomes. This study found that very few differences existed between women's and men's perceptions of job dimensions and work outcomes. It was also shown that little difference existed between men's and women's perceptions of positive relationships between job dimension and affected work outcomes. The authors concluded that differences that exist in work attitudes are artifacts of hierarchical position and sex-role stereotyping and will disappear when women are allowed to move into jobs that are characterized by the presence of high levels of intrinsic job dimensions.     

Malaysian women's state of well-being: empirical validation of a conceptual model

The author carried out the present study to examine the determinants of Malaysian women's well-being. Specifically, the author proposed a theoretical model of women's roles and well-being--made up of roles, negative affectivity, conflict, and health--and statistically validated it in a group of women occupying both work and family roles (N = 389). Using a life-course approach (P. Moen, 1998) to roles and well-being, the author further examined the model in women of 3 different age groups (age of Group 1 = 20-29 years, age of Group 2 = 30-39 years, and age of Group 3 = 40 years and older). The results supported the proposed model, which showed reasonable fit when applied to the 3 groups of women. The results also indicated that the predictors of women's well-being differ according to their respective age groups. The author discussed these findings in relation to the life-course approach to women's roles.     

Time and Its Relationship to Development in the Life Course: Some Reflections from a Study of HIV-Positive Adults

Although adult development is commonly understood as change over time, the relationship between time and development is rarely highlighted in research in the field. This paper first reviews 3 dimensions of time that interact in the study of developmental processes in the life course. The 3 dimensions are historical time; chronological age or life time; and social time, the culturally-specific, systematic ordering of life events. Second, the paper utilizes data from a follow-up study of HIV-positive men and women to illustrate the importance of time in development. In the original study, an HIV-positive diagnosis was viewed as a death sentence and had the effect of suspending the normal developmental patterns of adult life. Two years later, with the advent of protease inhibitors—an event in historical time—participants had reengaged with life time, once again making social time a relevant factor in their development. These data demonstrate how a better understanding of adult development can be achieved when historical time, life time, and social time are moved center stage in the study of developmental processes.     

Relation of Maternal Role Concepts to Parenting, Employment Choices, and Life Satisfaction Among Japanese Women

Japanese women are often described as heavily invested in the role of mother, yet young women in contemporary Japan are increasingly likely to postpone or opt out of marriage and child rearing. To understand the psychological dynamics of parenting among Japanese women who have chosen to become mothers, we examined the relation of maternal role salience beliefs, personal maternal role commitment, and parenting self-efficacy to life satisfaction, number of children, and employment status. Survey data were obtained from 116 urban Japanese women with children in the 2nd grade. Mothers with more children expressed greater personal role commitment. Those who had sought employment were less likely to hold strong maternal role salience beliefs. Life satisfaction was predicted by having more children, feeling efficacious as a parent, and being employed. These findings suggest that even in a society characterized by strong normative expectations for women, women's life satisfaction and choices about family life and employment are related to individual beliefs, attitudes, and judgments about their role.     

Women in the Middle Years: A Critique of Research and Theory

Research and theory on women in the middle years reflect assumptions and biases that limit our understanding and impair our ability to resolve conflicting findings about women's well-being. Such theorists as Erikson and Levinson focus on chronological age and assume an inappropriate sequence of stages and events. In most research, the centrality of women's reproductive role is assumed and the importance of their work role pattern is ignored. Thus menopause and the "empty nest" receive disproportionate attention. Too little attention is given to stage of the family life cycle and the conditions and status of work. Two active research areas that appear promising for understanding adult women are also discussed: locus of control and attributions; and social networks and support systems.     

Sex-role differences in time use

Analysis of how men and women spend their time reveals much about patterns of underlying sex-role relationships. This article examines national sample data on time use by men and women in order to determine systematic sex differences in the division of work and leisure in society. Particular attention is directed to how time-use patterns shift as both paid work and marital and family burdens are added to the woman's role. To determine time use, subjects kept diaries of their activities for a particular day. In addition, attitude questions about time use were also analyzed. Paid employment was found to constrain the free time of women far more than any other single role factor, including marriage and parenthood. Consequently, employed married women have significantly less free time than do employed men or women not in the labor force. While the free time of a married woman with children decreases when she becomes employed, a husband's free time may actually increase with his wife's employment. Nevertheless, few women indicated that they would like more help with housework and child care from their husbands. Several explanations for women's resistance to more male help are examined. Implications of these results for the career development of employed women and for future changes in marital role relationships are discussed.     

Why Don't They Demand More? Entitlement and Work Values of Religious and Secular Women and Men in Israel

For decades researchers have shown that women earn less than men; the wages they feel entitled to are lower than men's; and they are as satisfied as men with their salaries even though they earn less. These studies show that complacency regarding wages is more prevalent among tradition-oriented women than among "modern" women. The tendency is related to "traditional" women's work behavior: Tradition-oriented and religious women turn to low status, female-typed occupations, and prefer to work in part-time jobs. They also believe that working women are worse mothers and spouses than non-working women, but they report high work satisfaction. Secular women, on the other hand, believe they should get equal wages when working in the same occupations as men, and they are less satisfied with their pay than religious women, even though they earn more. The findings are explained in terms of Expectations States and Status Value theories.     

German Unification as a Turning Point in East German Women's Life Course: Biographical Changes in Work and Family Roles

In order to explore the effects of German unification on the life course of East German women of three age cohorts, 36 biographical interviews were conducted. The purpose of the research was to examine whether unification meant a complete break with the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) standard biography in terms of a voluntary acceptance of West German patterns, or a modification of old patterns based on necessity. Results demonstrate that the historical moment of 1989/90 (the Wende or turning point) has changed the life plans of the three cohorts of women in East Germany in different ways, depending on its timing in their life course. The life patterns of the youngest cohort differ most significantly from the standard biography of the GDR woman in that family formation is postponed and employment prioritized over family. Rather than being a complete break with tradition and a voluntary adoption of Western norms, this means a modification of the life course, because the desire to combine work and family continues to dominate.     

Schools and the twenty-first century labour market: perspectives on structural change

ABSTRACT

The focus of this article is the youth labour market and how changes within it have (negatively) affected the economic prospects of young Britons. It suggests ways in which schools and colleges can respond to such change in order to optimise the life chances of their students. The paper reviews the perspectives of two important groups of people well-placed to offer informed views to educationalists: policy commentators close to the political and academic debates surrounding youth employment; and, HR professionals with first-hand experience of recruitment. Synthesising perspectives, the paper highlights three key changes demanding attention: the growing complexity of the labour market; increased competition for entry level employment; and, the changing requirements of employers who increasingly seek new employees well placed to be personally effective in applying knowledge and skills in changing situations. The paper concludes by offering a framework for structuring school provision to optimise the school to work transitions of young people.