Chapter Three Work conditions
Abstract
One preoccupation of the sociology of industrial work has been the causes of job dissatisfaction. What accounts for the fact that some workers are satisfied, while others are not? Certain patterns of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction seem to be associated with particular kinds of jobs. Thus jobs which involve social interaction with other workers are generally more satisfying than socially isolated work; monotonous, repetitive work is more likely to be linked with job dissatisfaction than more varied work; jobs which involve responsibility and the ability to organise work time and work methods are generally preferred over those which lack these qualities, and so forth (Parker et al, 1967). It would seem that one source of industrial discontent in the modern world is the structure and content of work itself.
This is a general conclusion. But does it apply to the case of the housewife? Answers given by the 40 women in the sample suggest that certain characteristics of housework may be more or less uniformly experienced as dissatisfying, while others are potentially rewarding. Hence it would seem both helpful and important to examine a number of aspects of work that industrial sociology has highlighted as critical in the explanation of job satisfaction. These are the experiences of monotony, fragmentation and excessive pace in work and social interaction patterns. Two other dimensions of work, which have been found less important in the case of the industrial worker, are also looked at in this chapter: working hours and the technical environment.
A common charge levelled against housework is that it is inherently monotonous and repetitive.
Abstract
One preoccupation of the sociology of industrial work has been the causes of job dissatisfaction. What accounts for the fact that some workers are satisfied, while others are not? Certain patterns of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction seem to be associated with particular kinds of jobs. Thus jobs which involve social interaction with other workers are generally more satisfying than socially isolated work; monotonous, repetitive work is more likely to be linked with job dissatisfaction than more varied work; jobs which involve responsibility and the ability to organise work time and work methods are generally preferred over those which lack these qualities, and so forth (Parker et al, 1967). It would seem that one source of industrial discontent in the modern world is the structure and content of work itself.
This is a general conclusion. But does it apply to the case of the housewife? Answers given by the 40 women in the sample suggest that certain characteristics of housework may be more or less uniformly experienced as dissatisfying, while others are potentially rewarding. Hence it would seem both helpful and important to examine a number of aspects of work that industrial sociology has highlighted as critical in the explanation of job satisfaction. These are the experiences of monotony, fragmentation and excessive pace in work and social interaction patterns. Two other dimensions of work, which have been found less important in the case of the industrial worker, are also looked at in this chapter: working hours and the technical environment.
A common charge levelled against housework is that it is inherently monotonous and repetitive.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Sources of extracts iv
- Foreword by Germaine Greer vi
- Preface ix
-
Sex and gender
- Introduction 2
- The difference between sex and gender 7
- Genes and gender 13
- A kind of person 21
- Childhood lessons 31
- Science, gender and women’s liberation 41
-
Housework and family life
- Introduction 54
- On studying housework 59
- Images of housework 63
- Work conditions 75
- Standards and routines 87
- Marriage and the division of labour 93
- Helping with baby 103
- Housework in history and culture 109
-
Childbirth, motherhood and medicine
- Introduction 118
- The agony and the ecstasy 123
- Lessons mothers learn 139
- Medical maternity cases 151
- Mistakes and mystiques of motherhood 179
-
Doing social science
- Introduction 184
- The invisible woman: sexism in sociology 189
- Reflections thirty years on 207
- On being interviewed 211
- Interviewing women: a contradiction in terms? 217
- Who’s afraid of the randomized controlled trial? Some dilemmas of the scientific method and ‘good’ research practice 233
- Paradigm wars: some thoughts on a personal and public trajectory 245
- General bibliography 251
- Bibliography of work by Ann Oakley 281
- Ann Oakley: further reading 285
- Index 295
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Sources of extracts iv
- Foreword by Germaine Greer vi
- Preface ix
-
Sex and gender
- Introduction 2
- The difference between sex and gender 7
- Genes and gender 13
- A kind of person 21
- Childhood lessons 31
- Science, gender and women’s liberation 41
-
Housework and family life
- Introduction 54
- On studying housework 59
- Images of housework 63
- Work conditions 75
- Standards and routines 87
- Marriage and the division of labour 93
- Helping with baby 103
- Housework in history and culture 109
-
Childbirth, motherhood and medicine
- Introduction 118
- The agony and the ecstasy 123
- Lessons mothers learn 139
- Medical maternity cases 151
- Mistakes and mystiques of motherhood 179
-
Doing social science
- Introduction 184
- The invisible woman: sexism in sociology 189
- Reflections thirty years on 207
- On being interviewed 211
- Interviewing women: a contradiction in terms? 217
- Who’s afraid of the randomized controlled trial? Some dilemmas of the scientific method and ‘good’ research practice 233
- Paradigm wars: some thoughts on a personal and public trajectory 245
- General bibliography 251
- Bibliography of work by Ann Oakley 281
- Ann Oakley: further reading 285
- Index 295
