Speaking up, leaving or keeping silent: racialized employees in the Swedish elderly care sector

Alireza Behtoui, Kristina Boréus, Anders Neergaard and Soheyla Yazdanpanah
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Alireza Behtoui: Stockholm University, Sweden
Kristina Boréus: Uppsala University, Sweden
Anders Neergaard: Linköping University, Sweden
Soheyla Yazdanpanah: Södertörn University, Sweden

Work, Employment & Society, 2017, vol. 31, issue 6, 954-971

Abstract: When encountering problems and dissatisfaction in the workplace, employees may choose between three strategies: voice; exit; or silence. Using survey data and interview material from a study of employees in an elderly care organization in Sweden, this article investigates the workers’ perceptions of the eligibility and prospects of these strategies and which individual characteristics and situational factors might affect them. The focus is on racialized workers (operationalized through their region of birth) who, according to earlier studies, are less likely than other employees to choose voice behaviour. Contrary to some earlier studies, the results here attribute such a propensity to the importance of power differences across ‘racial hierarchies’ rather than to differences in cultural values. Individuals in this (racialized) category have a lower occupational status, earn less and experience less favourable relationships with their managers.

Keywords: exit; racialized workers; silence; Sweden; voice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:6:p:954-971

DOI: 10.1177/0950017016667042

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