Spatial and temporal segmenting of urban workplaces: The gendering of multi-locational working

Brendan Burchell, Darja Reuschke and Mary Zhang
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Brendan Burchell: Department of Sociology, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, UK
Darja Reuschke: Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, UK
Mary Zhang: School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, UK

Urban Studies, 2021, vol. 58, issue 11, 2207-2232

Abstract: Existing urban research has focused on gender differences in commuting patterns to and from homes, but has paid little attention to the gendered diversity in the spatiotemporal patterns of work. The increase in remote working and information and communications technology (ICT) work has been emphasised, but at the cost of exploring the full range of workplaces and multi-locational working observed in urban areas. This article develops a new classificatory system to analyse the spatiotemporal patterns of work in European cities using the 2015 6th European Working Conditions Survey. We identify 12 distinct spatiotemporal work patterns of full-time workers and investigate gender differences across these patterns against the backdrop of occupation, industrial sector, employment status, household composition and ICT use. Findings show that women are far more likely to be restricted to only working at the employer/business premises while men have more varied and complex spatiotemporal patterns of work. Multi-locational working rather than working at one workplace is a largely male phenomenon. Working exclusively at home is still a rarity, but combinations with employer premises and other workplaces are more common. We conclude that workplace research has been blinkered by narrow concerns of advances in mobile technologies and has been blind to the pervasive effects of spatiotemporal divisions in the working lives of men and women. The methodological and theoretical implications of this new perspective on workplaces for urban development and research are discussed.

Keywords: homeworking; occupational gender segregation; remote work; self-employment; third places; 在家工作; è Œä¸šæ€§åˆ«éš”ç¦»; 远程工作; è‡ªè ¥è Œä¸š; 第三类场所 (Third Places) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:11:p:2207-2232

DOI: 10.1177/0042098020903248

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