Workplace Situation Research Articles

Spaces of hidden labor: migrant women and work in nonprofit organizations

Laboring in low-paid jobs with poor conditions, migrant women are some of the most vulnerable workers in the US labor market. These women often carry a disproportionate burden at home, expected to care for children and elderly relatives and maintain a stable and loving family. Given the weight of work and family obligations, migrant women workers often turn to community-based organizations for assistance with securing work, negotiating an abusive workplace situation, and making ends meet on low wages. Increasingly, organizations are recognizing the social reproduction concerns of migrant women. In crafting responses to this reality, much work is undertaken by staff members, clients, and volunteers that is hidden from the organizations' funders, from the clients' employers, and from official statistics. The objective of this article is to reveal how and why nonprofit organizations can act as a space for the hidden labor of social reproduction, as well as for economic development experiments that account for the needs of social reproduction. Hidden labor is conceptualized as filling gaps in the social safety net created by a neoliberalizing society. In addition, it is the argument of this article that social reproduction is being reframed as a collective endeavor within organizations, where the ethic of care is potentially transforming an insidious political-economic context into a source of strength and resiliency for migrant women. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation in an organization in Chicago, this article provides a review of hidden labor within the space of nonprofit organizations.

Bisexuality and Diversity Management—Addressing the B in LGBT as a Relevant ‘Sexual Orientation’ in the Workplace

With the emergence of diversity management in Europe, more and more organizations see ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘sexual identity’ as a relevant field of action. In terms of concrete actions, European organizations primarily adopt the most common measures that are implemented by U.S. organizations. Thus, although they often utilize the term ‘LGBT’ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual), they mainly focus on homosexual employees. Against this background, this article analyzes the suitability of the most common diversity management measures of ‘sexual orientation’ to contribute to an amelioration of the workplace situation for bisexual employees. The analysis is based on quantitative data of 77 bisexual employees working in Germany, to which a regression model and correlation analyses were methodically applied. Results show that only the internal thematization of bi- and homosexuality positively affects the working climate for bisexual employees, whereas the existence of external gay marketing campaigns negatively affects it. Furthermore, it becomes obvious that a supportive working climate results in a higher degree of openness and decreased pressure to conceal or deny one's bisexuality at work.

Individual Differences in Discrimination Expectations Moderate the Impact of Target Stereotypically Black Physical Features on Racism-Related Responses in Blacks

Two experiments assess the extent that targets’ stereotypically Black physical features and individual differences in perceiver discrimination expectations influence racism-related responses. In Experiment 1, a total of 115 Black college students read about an ambiguously racist workplace situation. Participants reported their hostile emotions and racism attributions. In Experiment 2, a total of 121 Black college students read about two White police officers who physically harm a Black male. Participants reported their experience of empathy for the Black target. In both experiments, stereotypically Black physical features of the Black target were experimentally manipulated, and individual differences in discrimination expectations were assessed. More stereotypically Black physical features elicited greater racism attributions, greater hostile emotions, and more empathy for the target; and in all cases, the impact was stronger for Blacks with low discrimination expectations relative to those with high discrimination expectations. When person-related variables are especially salient, the influence of situational factors is necessarily reduced. Specifically, our findings demonstrate the insensitivity to racism-related situational cues that may be most pervasive for Blacks with high discrimination expectations.

Management Accounting Education in Nigeria - An Analysis of its Relevance to the Work Place Situation

This study looked at Management Accounting Education in Nigeria - An analysis of its relevance to the Work Place Situation. Exploratory and Survey research designs were adopted for the study. Course contents of 11 Universities in Nigeria were analysed to discover the scope of coverage of the identified Management Accounting techniques in the Work Place. At the same time, questionnaire was administered on 20 Accounting Consultants acting as surrogates for employers of Accounting Graduates coming to the Work Place in the role of Management Accountants. Findings include the fact that generally the course outlines of Nigerian Universities cover the Management Accounting techniques in use in the Work Place. However, it was discovered that there was poor coverage of modern Management Accounting techniques. Employers of labour agreed that Accounting Graduates coming to the Work Place as Management Accountants were technically defficient. The implication is that Nigerian Accounting Graduates coming to the Work Place as Management Accountants were not versed in modern Management Accounting techniques. We reccommend update of Management Accounting course outlines in Nigerian Universities to accomodate the recent advances in Management Accounting techniques. We also recommend one year compulsory internship in the Work Place for Accounting students as this will increase their practical competence level. Finally we recommend the creation of an enabling environment for Accounting Lecturers in Nigerian Universities to engage more actively in Management Accounting Research.

Couples’ Parental Leave Practices: The Role of the Workplace Situation

We address the issue of the relationship between couples’ parental leave practices and their workplace situation in a Nordic family policy setting described as both generous and gender egalitarian. The most common practice is that the father makes use of a mandatory fathers’ quota and the mother uses the rest of the total of 12 months of paid leave. There is little limitations in parents’ workplaces for fathers use of the father’s quota. Parental leave practices involving couples where the father is taking longer leave than the father’s quota and thereby the mother taking shorter leave compared with those taking maximum, are associated both with mothers’ workplaces and fathers’ workplaces.

'Role' and 'Position': Job Expectations and Practices

The paper studies a middle management position at an academic institute and examines the official nature of “role” and “position” in organisational structure to discuss the distinct concepts of roles and positions in an academic context and enrich our understanding of organizational roles. Data for the investigation includes official documents from the institute and entries in a work diary. The paper describes ‘role’ and ‘position’ and examines the tension between them. It also brings to the forefront the importance of an individual’s endogenous functioning disposition in the workplace situation and exogenous labelling-cum-expectations among individuals in an organisation.

Linking academic knowledge and professional experience in using statistics: a design experiment for business school students

The aim of the empirical study presented in this paper is to explore how students link academic knowledge with workplace experience. I carried out a research study with a group of 36 business school students entering a 3-year masters level apprenticeship programme. In an introductory statistics course, I designed and implemented a four-step learning activity, based on an Exploratory Data Analysis approach and inspired by an authentic workplace situation. I report the findings of qualitative research based on the recorded discussions between students and the reports they wrote at each step in the experience. I found that three different forms of rationality—technical, pragmatic and scientific—led them to shape the problem differently. I observed that they hardly used statistical tools because pragmatic rationality which is linked to their experience as salespersons prevails, although access to a managerial approach suggests the use of more statistical knowledge.

Biofeedback on Voice Use in Call Center Agents in Order to Prevent Occupational Voice Disorders

Call center agents (CCAs) are at high risk of voice disorders because of high-demanding vocal load and work-related stress factors. Goal of this prospective study was to examine the voice use at work and to introduce biofeedback software into real-life workplace situation to improve vocal performance. Individual fundamental frequency, sound pressure level (SPL) of speaking voice, and syllables per second should be optimized by visualization on-screen. Further, its impact on vocal attrition and vocal constitution should be investigated. Over a period of 6 months, 76 call center advisors voluntarily participated in this study (37 female, 39 male, mean age 29.3 years). At the beginning of the study, all the subjects received voice range profile (VRP) measurements and acoustic voice analyses at the beginning and at the end of shift. Additionally, several questionnaires have been completed. The subjects were classified into either the study group (group 1) or the control group (group 2). Group 1 had open access to results of the biofeedback software program at their workplace, and group 2 did not. The VRP measurements, questionnaires, and acoustic voice analyses were repeated 4 weeks later again at the beginning and at the end of shift. All the subjects confirmed a rather high vocal load. In contrast, almost none of the subjects received any voice training before entering the floor. The percentage of voice-related hoarseness and regular throat clearing was rather high in both groups. The statistical analyses revealed a significant improvement of vocal performance in subjects with vocal fatigue in the study group when compared with the control group after a 4-week biofeedback intervention. All the subjects with vocal hypofunction defined as maximum SPLs lower than 90 dB in VRP measurements improved to normal voice constitution at the end of the study in contrast to the control group. Biofeedback is a suitable method to improve vocal awareness and vocal performance of CCAs.

Psychosocial work load and stress in the geriatric care

BackgroundDue to the decrease in informal care by family members and the demographic development, the importance of professional geriatric care will rise considerably. Aim of this study was to investigate the psychosocial workplace situation for employees in this profession.MethodsThe German version of the COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) was used for the assessment of psychosocial factors at work. The instrument includes 22 scales and 3 single items concerning demands, control, stress, support, and strain.Results between two study groups of geriatric care were compared to each other as well as to employees in general hospital care and a general population mean (COPSOQ database).Statistical analysis included t-tests, ANOVA and multiple comparisons of means. Statistical significance (p < 0.01, two-tailed) and a difference of at least 5 points in mean values were defined as the relevant threshold.ResultsIn total 889 respondents from 36 institutions took part in the study. 412 worked in Home Care (HC), 313 in Geriatric Nursing Homes (GNH), 164 in other professions (e.g. administration).Comparison between HC and GNH showed more favourable values for the first group for the most scales, e.g. lower quantitative and emotional demands and less work-privacy conflict, better possibilities for development etc. Compared to external values from the German COPSOQ database for general hospital care (N = 1.195) and the total mean across all professions, COPSOQ-total (N = 11.168), the results are again positive for HC workers on most of the scales concerning demands and social support. The only negative finding is the very low amount of social relations at work due to the obligation to work alone most of the time. Employees in GNH rate predictability, quality of leadership and feedback higher when compared to general hospital care and show some further favourable mean values compared to the COPSOQ mean value for all professions. A disadvantage for GNH is the high rating for job insecurity.A supplementary subgroup analysis showed that the degree of negative evaluation of psychosocial factors concerning demands was related to the amount of working hours per week and the number of on-call duties.ConclusionsCompared to employees in general hospital care and the COPSOQ overall mean value across all professions, geriatric care employees and especially home care workers evaluate their psychosocial working situation more positive for most aspects. However, this seems partly due to the very high proportion of part-time workers. Critical results for the two study groups are the relatively high job insecurity in nursing homes and the lack of social relations for the HCrs.

Individual and Institutional Constraints: An Analysis of Parental Leave Use and Duration in Spain

This paper analyzes the extent to which individual characteristics, the workplace situation, and regional policies influence the use and duration of parental leave in Spain. The research is based on a sample of 125,165 individuals, and 6,959 parental leaves covered in the “Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales” (MCVL-2006). The MCVL consists of administrative register data, which include information from three different sources: The social security system, municipal and income tax Registers. We adopt a simultaneous equations approach to analyze the determinants of the use (logistic regression) and duration (event history analysis) of parental leave, which allows us to control for endogeneity and censored observations. Our results suggest that the Spanish parental leave scheme increases gender and social inequalities, insofar as it reinforces gender role specialization, and only encourages the reconciliation of work and family life among workers with a good position in the labor market (educated employees with a high and stable work status).

Scaffold instruction at the workplace from a situated perspective

This article proposes the need to address scaffold instructions from a situated learning perspective. Based on an empirical study of how apprentice bakers learn their trade, it is claimed that studies of learning at the workplace yield important insights into our understanding of scaffold instructions. Seen from the perspective of the apprentices, scaffold instruction represents access to more responsibility in practice, it supports their identities as future bakers and they learn bodily know-how. When scaffold instruction failed, it was often in relation to situations where the apprentices were placed in marginal positions in the community of practice or in relation to a central workplace situation.

Evaluation of the calibration procedure of active personal dosemeters for interventional radiology

An overview of the use of active personal dosemeters (APD) in interventional radiology is presented. It is based on the work done by the working package 7 of the CONRAD coordinated action supported by the EC within the frame of the 6th FP. This study was done in collaboration with the working package 4 of CONRAD to deal with the calculations required for studying the new calibration facility. The main requirements of the standard for the APD and the difficulties caused by the use of pulsed radiations are presented through the results of an intercomparison organised in a realistic calibration facility similar to the workplace situation in interventional radiology. The main characteristics of this facility are presented.

Resolving Conflict: Enhancing Engineering Students’ English Fluency through Workplace Situation

Conversing in a second language particularly in English can be demanding for second language learners; they are often reluctant and embarrassed to communicate due to the fact that they are afraid they will commit grammatical inaccuracy. Concerns over accuracy often hinder students� ability to speak fluently. At Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) nonetheless, engineering students are frequently required to deliver project demonstrations, present research or project findings and interview people from the industry, and they can perform all these tasks very well in their native language, in this case Malay. However, when it comes to completing the tasks in English, students stumble; often projecting lack of confidence, failing to deliver the message across, and thus, disappointing the receiver. The researchers believe that the needs to, at least, improve students� fluency regardless of the accuracy will help the students perform better in communicative events. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present the researchers� attempt at improving engineering students� fluency in the English language. This has been done by exposing a group of 30 chemical engineering students to one of the most common communicative events at the workplace � conflict. They are provided with a variety of internal and external conflict scenarios and problem solving situations in which they have to resolve. Students are given opportunities to interact, deliver their opinions and resolve the issues in different speaking activities without penalizing them on the accuracy of the language.

Anxiety disorders and workplace-related anxieties

Background: Workplace-related anxieties are often connected with sick leave. There are no established instruments which allow to assess this phenomenologically heterogeneous group of disorders. Method: One hundred and thirty-two psychosomatic inpatients were interviewed with a standardized diagnostic interview in respect to mental illnesses, especially primary anxiety disorders, and in addition in respect to different work-related anxiety disorders. Results: Seventy-one percent of women and 54% of men complained about work-related anxiety. 20.5% of participants are suffering from work-related panic, 58% from work-related phobia, 34.1% from work-related social phobia, 39.4% from work-related generalized anxiety, and 1.5% from work-related PTSD. There is a moderate relation between mental disorders or primary anxiety disorders and work-related anxiety. Fourteen percent of the participants did only suffer from workplace-related anxiety and did not report any other anxiety disorder outside the workplace situation. Conclusion: There are various types of workplace-related anxieties. They are partly independent clinical phenomena deserving special diagnostic and therapeutic attention.

Voices - Place nurse leaders in the big brotherhouse and raise the profession’s profile, suggests Sharon Dennis

I often get sideways looks when I tell people I like reality television shows. I rationalise that I became a voyeur because the shows are like a microcosm of every home, workplace and social situation, with friendships, conflict, team working and so on.

Parents’ Workplace Situation and Fathers’ Parental Leave Use

This study examines how the workplace situation of both parents affects fathers’ parental leave use. We used parental leave‐taking register data from Statistics Sweden for dual‐earner couples who resided in Stockholm and had children in 1997 (n= 3,755). The results indicate that fathers shorten their parental leave if their workplaces are such that one can expect leave to be associated with high costs and that fathers appear to be influenced by the leave use of other fathers in the workplace. Mothers’ workplace situation appears to be less important for fathers’ leave use. The results point to the importance of actors other than parents (such as employers) for understanding the gender‐based division of child care.

P3056 作業現場情報の管理から見た産業看護職の役割(一般演題:ポスター,地方の時代の産業保健,第79回日本産業衛生学会)

P3056 作業現場情報の管理から見た産業看護職の役割(一般演題:ポスター,地方の時代の産業保健,第79回日本産業衛生学会)

Air flow at different temperatures increases sodium lauryl sulphate-induced barrier disruption and irritation in vivo

Combined exposure to dry climatic conditions and local heat sources together with detergents represents a common workplace situation. These conditions may support the induction of chronic barrier disruption leading subsequently to irritant contact dermatitis (ICD). To test the irritant and barrier disrupting properties of air flow at different temperatures and velocities. Using noninvasive biophysical measurements such as transepidermal water loss (TEWL) (TM 210; Courage & Khazaka, Cologne, Germany) we assessed the effects of short-term exposure to air flow at different temperatures (24 degrees C and 43 degrees C) in combination with sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) 0.5% on the skin of 20 healthy volunteers in a tandem repeated irritation test. Chromametry was used to control the accuracy of the SLS irritation model. In our study air flow alone did not lead to a significant increase in TEWL values. Sequential treatment with air flow and SLS led to an impairment of barrier function and irritation stronger than that produced by SLS alone. The two different air flow temperatures led to different skin temperatures but had no influence on permeability barrier function. Warm air flow has an additional effect on the SLS-induced barrier disruption in a tandem irritation test with sequential exposure to SLS/air flow. This combination is suspected to promote ICD in workplace and household situations, especially in short-term applications as tested in our model.

Modular Uncemented Tricompartmental Total Knee Arthroplasty

The incidence of posttraumatic osteoarthrosis, especially in younger patients, increases. In different studies total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is only indicated in 0–12% of cases of posttraumatic osteoarthrosis, because most authors feel that the indication for TKA in younger patients should be narrowly restricted. The most common indications for TKA include primary idiopathic osteoarthrosis and rheumatoid arthritis predominantly in patients > 60 years. In this prospective study a total of 188 patients with 197 TKAs were compared. 92 patients (93 TKAs) had a posttraumatic osteoarthrosis, 96 patients (104 TKAs) a nontraumatic osteoarthrosis. All patients received the same modular tricompartmental TKA in uncemented technique regarding femoral and tibial component. The patella was always cemented. All operations were performed by a group of six surgeons in a standardized operating technique. The evaluation of the study parameters included three components: patient questionnaire (pain, patient satisfaction, ability to walk, range of motion, workplace situation), clinical evaluation (Knee Society Clinical Rating Score), conventional X-ray, and CT evaluation (axial alignment, radiolucent lines, bone defects). In light of the results obtained in this study, TKA implantation appears to be a valid primary treatment option in young patients with posttraumatic arthrosis. Even though the results for nearly all parameters were poorer in the posttraumatic osteoarthrosis group, the condition of these patients still improved significantly following TKA.

Organizational Commitment and Person-Environment Fit in Six Western Countries

The connection between work environment and organizational commitment (OC) is investigated and compared across six western countries, using data from the 1997 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) . Differences in work environment are examined on two levels: (1) with reference to theoretical literature and empirical findings in comparative research and (2) with reference to how individuals perceive their workplace situation in relation to their personal evaluations of different workplace features (person-environment fit). Although no connection between work environment and OC is found when countries are compared on the basis of literature on the differences in the organization of production, the connection proves to be salient with respect to individual and group levels. The result suggests that the most important factor for OC in all countries is a job that the individual finds interesting. A control for job satisfaction makes it clear that the effect of finding the work interesting is independent of satisfaction with work. Other similarities and differences between the countries are also identified and discussed. New avenues for further comparative research are suggested.