Women's Work, Men's Work, and the Sense of Control

Abstract

This article examines gender differences in four dimensions of work alienation—routine, nonautonomous, estranged, and isolated work—and the ways in which work alienation shapes subjective alienation, measured as the sense of powerlessness versus control. It is expected that women's work is more objectively alienating than men's, that these work characteristics shape people's sense of personal control, and that work characteristics explain the effect of employment status, especially homemaker status and part-time employment, on perceived control. These propositions are examined in a 1995 U.S. national telephone probability sample with 2,592 respondents. Nonroutine work, including task variety and problem solving; autonomous work, including decision-making autonomy and freedom from supervision; fulfilling work; and nonisolated work all significantly positively affect the sense of personal control. Women's disproportionate representation in homemaking and part-time work explains women's low personal control. Compared to full-time employees, part-time workers have a lower sense of control because their work is more routine, less enjoyable, and less autonomous. Compared to full-time employees, homemakers have a lower sense of control because their work is more routine, less enjoyable, and more isolated. However, homemakers report more autonomy than paid workers, and female paid workers report less isolated work than their male counterparts.