http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
RosemaryCromptonand FionaHarris
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS: women;employment;occupationalsegregation;cross-national;
workorientations
INTRODUCTION
Brit.Jnl. of kSociologyVolume
no. 49 Issue no. 1 March 1998 ISSN 0007-1315 t) Lolldon School of Economics 1998
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining womexn's emplayment patterns 119
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
120 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harris
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employment patte7ns 121
choose but are also constrained, a fact which lies at the root of sociological
explanatioils of human behaviour.
However, Hakim (1991: 114) has argued that: '. . . theory and research
on women's employment seems particularly prone to an over-socialised
view of women, or with structural factors so weighted that choice flies out
of the window'. This suggestion of structural over-determinism is somewhat
paradoxical given the recent turn to 'discourse' in feminist debates. This
trend has led some theorists to suggest that recent feminist analyses run the
danger of disregarding structure altogether (Maynard 1995) . Our own posi-
tion is similar to that of Marshall (1994: 115), who has argued that although
'. . . the content of gender is infinitely variable and continually in flux, . . .
the salience of gender (i.e., 'male' and 'female') categories is persistent'.
Thus gendered structures and categories - in employment, in families, in
state institutions - play a major part in reproducing the gender order, but
these structures are nego-tiated and interpreted by changing and flexible
gendered subjects. Both the structures, and the manner in which they are
interpreted, may be investigated empirically.
One structure which has been argued to have been an important
mechanism through which women have been subordinated is that of
employment. Walby (1986) and Hartmann (1982) have argued thatwomen
have been deliberately denied access to jobs which would allow them to live
independently. In contrast, Hakim argues that
Occupational segregation has been reconstructed in the late twentieth
century to provide separate occupations and jobs for women following
the marriage career, which allows only non-committed contingent work
and non-career jobs which are always subordinate to non-market activi-
ties. (1995: 450)
However, this explanation does not address the problem of disparities in
power and resources between groups in the labour market. Rather, the
status quo is described as being a reflection of the requirements of a popu-
lation differentiated by 'choice' alone, rather than by any variations in their
initial social and material endowments (e.g. material and social capital con-
tributing to employment opportunities). As far as men and women are con-
cerned, it would be difficult to argue that this has been or is the case.
Hakim (1995: 450) also asserts that '. . . treating the workforce as a homo-
geneous group may work well for research on male employment'. This state-
ment leaves out of account a body of research and theory in industrial
sociology whose major conclusions were to demoxlstrate the heterogeneity of
the male workforce. This was the 'orientations to work' debate in the Indus-
trial Sociology of the 1960s and 70s. In the next section of this paper, there-
fore, we will first briefly review this debate, with the purpose of drawing out
elements relevant to Hakim's discussion of women's employment. We will
then present some findings from a cross-national study in order to illustrate
the interaction between choice and constraint in the shaping of women's
decisions relating to the employment/family interface.
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harras
122
'ORIENTATIONS TO WORK'
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explainingwomen's
employment
patterns 123
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
124 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harris
COMMITMENTAND CONTF.XT
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 125
career/familyintantions:**
ESarly
Career first/drifted 51% 78%
Shaped by aniicipated family responsibilities 49% 22%
N 75 77
Children:**
None/one child 42% 65%
More than one child 58% 35%
N 76 78
Domesticdivision of labour:*
Tradiiional 75% 55%
Other 25% 45%
N 69 68
Childcare:
Respondent main responsibility 55% 36%
Other 45% 64%
N 56 53
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
126 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harrzs
Domestic lifefirst 24 15
Satisficer 37 26
Maximizer 17 15
Careerist (by choice) 16 19
Careerist (by necessity) 15
Unclear/undecided 5 9
Number: 75 78
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 127
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
128 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harr7s
Myfocus changed completelythen to being a mum.
Probablymy mum's
earlyindoctrinationof me as a mothercamethroughin
thatI'd neverhad
any intentionsof returningfrom maternityleave
immediately.I'd always
got it set in my mind that I wanted to be at home
with my children . . .
[And planned to returnto workpart-time.However,
with bank reorgan-
ization,a newjob wasoffered.] . . . Do I takethe risk
offorfeitingthe extra
two yearshome with the family,(or) to takethis full
timejob whichwasa
verygood promotionopportunity?(she did) (Britain:
2/26).
Not only do employmentorientationsand
commitments,but also orien-
tationsto the domesticdivisionof labour,change over the
life cycle. Many
womenhad renegotiatedthe domestic divisionof labour
as their careers
haddeveloped- or had changedtheirpartnersfor
somethingmore 'career-
friendly'.llIn the case of the bankersin particular,40 per
cent reported
problemsrelatingto the domesticdivisionof labourwhich
had resultedin
theend of a relationship.Often (but not always)there
had been a change
toa new and more 'domesticated'partneras a
consequence
. . . my firstmanagerialjob demandeda lot from
me so I startedputting
more into thejob . . . I got more confidence- I took that
home. I wasn't
the wife he married. . . It (domesticwork)wasall my
responsibility,I did
everything.InitiallyI didn'tmind much . . . but as I got more
more confidentI startedto questionwhywasall this my matureand
I alwayssaid 'when I get marriedagain I'm going responsibility ...
to do it differently'
(divorced;remarried,second marriageegalitarian,one
child) (Britain:
3/21).
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 129
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
130 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harris
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 131
CONCLUSIONS
Our aim in this paper has been to illustratethe complex structuringof the
gender divisionof labourin respectof both marketand domesticwork.Inter
alia, we have also sought to demonstrate that one-sidedlyvoluntaristic
explanations of women's (and men's) economic behaviour, in which
'orientationsto work' and correspondingchoice of economic activityare
regarded as the major explanatoryvariablesin respect of women's (and
men's) economic behaviour,are inadequateand potentiallymisleading.
We have seen that whilstwomen do indeed make choices, these choices
are not necessarily between the alternativesof home-centredness and
career-centredness.Some women want both - that is, their work orien-
tationsare not single-stranded- and they choose accordingly.We havealso
seen how contexts structurechoices - a fact which should make us waryof
assumptionsthat there exist identifiable'types'of women. Some women go
into employmentand familylife withoutthe consciousexercise of choice -
but this does not preclude their subsequentlybecoming highly committed
to an employmentcareer.As has been well-establishedempirically,direct
male exclusionarypractices have had a substantialimpact on women's
careersand occupationalchoices, and it would seem that there is a con-
siderableamount of cross-nationalcontinuityin these processes.This kind
of evidence demonstratesthat occupationalsegregationby sex cannot be
explained as being a consequence of women's choices alone.
We have sought to emphasizethat sociologicalexplanationsrelatingto
women's employmentpatternscannot rest upon a simplisticreduction to
the argumentthat they are due to the fact that there are different 'types'
of women. Merton (1957: 121) has argued that a sociological approach
seeksto '. . . abandon(s) the positionheld byvariousindividualistictheories
that differentratesof deviantbehaviourin diversegroupsand social strata
are the accidentalresult of varyingproportionsof pathologicalpersonali-
ties found in these groupsor strata'.16In a similarfashion,we would argue
that the concentration of women in particularoccupations and employ-
ment statusescannot be 'read off' from the assumptionthat these corre-
spond to different'types'of women. Preferencesmayshapechoices, but the
do not, contraryto Hakim'sassertions,determine them (1996:214).
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
RssemaryCromptonand Fiona
132 Harris
The 'malebreadwinner'model
of the divisionof
undertook domestic or labour,in whichwomen
non-marketwork and men
(employment) (Davidoff 'went out' to work
for the structuringof and Hall 1987) has had important
women's employmentin consequences
Thismodel also provided
the initialframeworkformany Westerncountries.
institutions;including welfare the constitutionof major
systems,etc. It has also regimes, education systems,
social security
the'proper'kinds of shaped ideas of masculinityand femininity,
workfor men and and of
isionsof labour have women.
varied considerablyfromNevertheless,gender div-
Finland,for example, the country to country. In
never persistenceof smallfarming
withdrewfrom marketworkto meant that women
Different kindsof welfarestate anygreatextent
(Pfau-Effinger1993).
nature of women's developmenthavealsoaffected
employment- for example,in the level and
commitment to preservingthe Germanythere is a strong
and the tax system traditionalcaring functions of
discouragesfemale labourforce the family,
Andersen 1993:35. See also L,ewis participation(Esping-
highly 1992). In state socialist
traditionalgender roles EasternEurope,
ment for women - a fact persisted despite near-universal
which Watson(1993) attributes(in employ-
lackof standing in civil part) to men's
society under state
national level, socio-historical socialism.At the aggregate
and
reflected in systematicvariations institutional differences have been
in
attitudes,which are carried the level of 'traditionalism'in gender
role
between over into the domestic
men and women divisionof labour
dence (Crompton and Harris1997a).This
suggeststhat gender kind of evi-
are
shapedas much by context relations,and the choices
as by individual associated with them,
expectthese contextual preferences,and we should
modelis modified. variations to persisteven as the
male breadwinner
Thisheterogeneity of
national
assuming that a particularnationalpatterns should also make us wary of
tion'
as far as the gender compromiseindicatesa universal
beimplied divisionof labouris 'solu-
by Hakim's arguments concerned, as would seem to
'types'
of women. It is likely relating to
that some degree of fundamentallydifferent
reflecting
culturaland psychological occupationalsegregation,
as
well
as the organization notions of masculinityand
of workand familylife, femininity
gendered constraints on labour force would persisteven if all
However,
to assertthat patterns participation were removed.
the outcome of women's of occupationalsegregationin Britainrep-
resent
toBritish
the case. In choices neglects important
particular,we would point factorsrelevant
employment protectionand the recent to the weaknessof UK
bility'
(Beatson 1995). promotionof labour
predominate, 'Non-standard',poorly paidjobs, in market'flexi-
have increased as a which women
the weakestworkerswill consequence. In a competitivelabour
market,
get the
lack of
regulation of the Britishlabour worstjobs. Hakimarguesthat the
experiment' in which gendermarketmeans that it representsa
'natural
expression.
As we have argued in preferences will find their true
field, in that there are this paper, this stance assumesa level
playing
no differences in
material and power
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 133
NO'rES
* The authors wish to thank Gunn 4. The Luton study also included two
Birkelund, Kate Purcell, James Fulcher, other, technologically contrasting, work-
Irene Bruegel, Nicky Le Feuvre, and the place organizations: Laporte chemicals
two anonymous BJS referees, for their and Skefco ball bearings.
advice and helpful comments on earlier 5. The 'action' approach may be seen
draftsof this paper. as the precursor of the phenomenological
1. See Hakim 1991: 106, and Ginn et and ethnomethodological 'turn' in British
al. 1996: 168. sociology during the 1970s,a development
2. It may also be noted that Hakim's which was vehemently rejected by
characterizationof the two choices open to Goldthorpe. However, this research also
women fails to take account of the increas- demonstrated the manner in which atti-
ing numbers of women living in families tudes to employment were and are shaped
but without men - i.e., lone parents. by perceptions of the opportunities avail-
However, Hakim would seem to assume able. See in particularWillis 1977.
that all women who are not in work have 6. The original debate may be criti-
accessto a male supporter.For example, in cized for this failure to pursue the question
adjusting the data on levels of work com- of the structuring of the employ-
mitment in order to incorporate non- ment/family interface (Dex 1985). Our
working women (who were not actually discussion will incorporate this dimen-
asked the question), she states that: '. . . by sion.
definition non-workingwomen are choos- 7. Men, also, may have such a dual
ing not to work given even a moderate orientation, it is not intended to suggest
income supplied by their husband' (1996: that the possibilit,vis gender-specific.
105). However, the data in question gives 8. The cross-nationalproject, 'Gender
no evidence of marital or partnership Relations and Employment' is funded by
status. the ESRC (R000235617), the British
3. Hakim also identifies a third cat- Council, and the Universit,vof Bergen. In
egory, the 'drifters',who are neither one the cases of Norway, the Czech Republic
thing nor another, but their activities and Britainwe also have access to the core
'probablydefy explanation' (1996: 213). questions of the International Social
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
134 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harris
mtervlews.
11. Researchon changesin the domestic women, ethnic minoritywomen were con-
division of labour following women's entry centrated in manual homeworking,with a
into the labour force has tended to be heavy representationin clothing assembly,
rather pessimisticas to the possibilitiesof all Asianwomen. Nearly60 per cent of the
change - e.g. Hochshild (1990) - although Asianwomen worked45 hours or more and
Gershuny et al. (1994) do suggest that a one third 60 hours or more (p. 57). These
process of 'lagged adaptation' is in train. very long hours reflect economic need - a
However, a feature of these researches is high proportion of households were on
that they have focused upon survivingtw income support.Only 10 per cent of Asian
couple households. Our evidence suggests women said that they preferred to work at
that replacingor removinga partnermight home - they did the workbecauseit wasthe
also be a common response amongst econ- only workthat they could get. In the case of
omicallyindependent women. this section of the 'uncommitted' female
12. In any case, empiricalresearch (Pahl labourforce, therefore,it wouldbe difficult
1984) has shown that the domestic division to argue that their employment patterns
of labour changes considerably over the had been freely'chosen'. Itwould also seem
domestic life cycle, as might be expected. to be the case that the extent of homework-
13. In Britain,women are 54 per cent of ing amongst ethnic minority women has
employees in 'financial intermediation' been under-estimated in recent surveys,
(1995), and 29 per cent of doctors (1994). and that it is on the increase. See Felstead
In the Czech Republic, women are 70 per andJewson 1996.
cent of employees in 'financial intermedi- 16. As in, for example, Lombroso's
ation' (1994) and 51 per cent of doctors explanation of crime via the identification
(1994). In Norway,women are 59 per cent of criminal 'types'.
of bank employees (1991), and 27 per cent
of doctors ( 1994). In Russia,women are 76
per cent of bank employees ( 1994) and 74 BIBLIOGRAPHY
per cent of doctors.
14. In the West, the situation in Allen, I. 1994 Doctorsand their Careers,
the banks is in fact in the process of London: Policy Studies Institute.
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Explaining women's employmentpatterns 135
Barrett, M. 1987 'The Concept of "Differ- 1997 'The Feminisation of the Profes-
ence"', FeministRevierv26: 3547. sions Liberales,Theoretical and Empirical
Beatson, M. 1995 'Progresstowardsa flex- Implications' (University of Bergen,
ible labour market', EmploymentGazette April).
February:55-66. Crompton,R. and Sanderson,K 1990 Gen-
Blackburn, R. and Mann, M. 1979 The deredJobs andSocialChange,London: Unwin
WorkingClassin theLabourMarket,London: H,vman.
Macmillan. 1994 'The gendered restructuringof
Blauner, R. 1964 Alienationand Freedom, emplo,vmentin the finance sector', in A.
Chicago:Universit,vof Chicago Press. MacEwenScott (ed.) GenderSegregation and
Bruegel, I. 1996 'Whose Myths are they Social Change,Oxford: Oxford Universit,v
anyway?' BritishJournal of Sociology,47 (1): Press.
175-77. Dsniel, W. 1969 'IndustrialBehaviourand
Chafetz, J. s. and Hagan, J. 1996 'The Orientations to Work',Journalof Manage-
Gender Division of Labour and Family mentStudies6: 152-69.
Change in IndustrialSocieties:A Theoreti- 1971 'Productivit,vBargaining and
cal Accounting', Journal of Comparative Orientation to Work: A Rejoinder to
FamilyStudies,27: 187-219. Goldthorpe',Journalof Management Studies
Cotgrove, S., Dunham,J.and Vamplew,C. 8: 329-35-
1971 TheNylonSpinners,London: George Dandoff, L. and Hall, C. 1987 FamilyFor-
Allen and Unwin. tunes,London: Hutchinson.
Crompton, R. 1989 'Women in Banking', Dex, S. 1985 The SexualDivision of Work,
Work,Employment and Society3 (2): 141-56. Brighton:Wheatsheaf.
1996 'Gender Relations and Employ- Esping-Andersen,G. (ed.) 1993 Changing
ment: Retail Banking in Eastern and Classes,London: Sage.
WesternEurope', Paperpresented at: 'The Felstead and Jewson 1996 Researching a
Globalizationof Production and the Regu- Problematic Concept: Homeworkers in
lation of Labour', University of Warwick, Britain, Universityof LeicesterDiscussion
September 1996. Papersin Sociology,
no. S96/4.
Crompton, R. and Harris, F. 1996 Gallie, D. 1978 In Searchof theNervWorking
'Women's Employment, Gender Attitudes Class, Cambridge: Cambridge University
and the Household in the UK, Norwayand Press.
the Czech Republic', Universityof Leicester Gershuny,J.Godwin,M. andJones, S. 1994
DiscussionPapersin Sociology,
no. S96/2. 'The Domestic Labour Revolution: a
Crompton, R. and Harris, F. 1997a Processof LaggedAdaptation'in M.Ander-
'Women's Employment and Gender Atti- son, F. Bechhofer and J. Gershuny (eds)
tudes: A ComparativeAnalysis of Britain, TheSocialand PoliticalEconomyof theHouse-
Norwayand the Czech Republic' ActaSoci- hold,Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress.
ologzca40: 18>202. Ginn, J., Arber, S., Brannen,J., Dale, A*,
1997b 'Attitudes to Women's Dex, S., Elias, P., Moss, P., Pahl, J.,
Employment and the Changing Domestic Roberts, C. and Rubery,J. 1996 'Feminist
Divisionof Labour:a Cross-NationalAnaly- Fallacies: a reply to Hakim on women's
sis' (Universityof Bergen, April). employment', BrztishJournal of Sociology
1998 'Gender Relations and Employ- 7(1): 167-74.
ment: the impact of occupation', Workand Goldthorpe, J. H. 1966 'Attitudes and
Society(forthcoming). Behaviour of Car Assembly Workers: A
Crompton, R. and Le Feuvre, N. 1992 Deviant Case and a Theoretical Critique',
'Gender and bureaucracy: women in BritishJournal of Sociology
17(3): 227-44.
finance in Britainand France'in M. Savage 1972 'Daniel on Orientations to
and A. Witz (ed.) Genderand Bureaucracy, Work:a final Comment',JournalofManage-
Oxford: Blackwell. mentStudies9: 26S73.
1996 'Paid Employment and the Goldthorpe, J. H., Lockwood, D., Bech-
Changing System of Gender Relations:A hofer, F. and Platt, J. 1968 The Affluent
Cross-national Comparison', Sociology Worker:IndustrialAttitudesand Behaviour,
30(3): 427-45. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
136 RosemaryCromptonand Fiona Harris
Hakim, C. 1991 'Grateful slaves and self- Marshall,B. L. 1994 Engender7ngModernity,
made women: fact and fantasyin women's Cambridge:Polity.
work orientations', EuropeanSociological Maynard, M. 1995 'Beyond the 'Big
Review7(2): 101-21. Three': the development of feminist
1992 'Explaining Trends in Occu- theory into the l990s', Women'sHistory
pational Segregation: The Measurement, Reoiew4:3; 259-81.
Causes, and Consequences of the Sexual Merton, R. K 1957 SocialTheoryand Social
Division of Labour', EuropeanSociological Structure, NewYork:The Free Press.
Review8(2): 127-52. Pahl, R. E. 1984DivisionsofLabour,Oxford:
1995 'Five feminist myths about Blackwell.
women's employment', BrztishJournal of Pfau-Effinger, B. 1993 'Modernisation,
Sociolon46(3): 429-55. Cultureand Part-timeEmployment', Work,
1996 Key Issues in Women'sWork, Employment and Society7(3): 38>410.
London: The Athlone PressLtd. Phizacklea, A. and Wolkowitz, C. 1995
Halford, S. and Savage, M. 1995 'Restruc- Homeworking Women,London: Sage.
turing Organisations, Changing People', Roethlisberger, F. J. and Dickson, W. J.
Work,Employment and Society9(1): 97-122. 1947 Managementand the Worker,Cam-
Harnn, H. 1982 'Capitalism,Patriarchy bridge Mass.:HarvardUniversityPress.
and Job Segregation by Sex' reprinted in Rowntree Foundation 1995 Inquiry into
A. Giddens and D. Held (eds) Classes,Power Incomeand Wealth, York.
and Conflict,London and Basingstoke: Walby, S. 1986 Patriarchyat Work,Cam-
Macmillan. bridge: Polity.
Hill, S. 1976 TheDockers,London: Heine- Watson, P. 1993 'Eastern Europe's Silent
mann. Revolution: Gender', Sociology 27(3):
Hochschild, A. 1990 The Second Shift, 471-87.
London: Piatkus. Wedderburn,D. and Crompton, R. 1976
Ingharn,G. K 1974 Strzkesand Industrzal WorkersAttitudes and Technology,Cam-
Conflict,London: Macmillan. bridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Lewis,J. 1992 'Gender and the Develoz Willis, P. 1977 Learningto Labour,Farn-
ment of Welfare Regimes',Journalof Euro- borough:Saxon House.
peanSocialPolicy2(3):159-73.
This content downloaded from 131.111.184.84 on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:37 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions