Transformed by Technology? The Changing Nature of Women's `Traditional' and `Non-Traditional' White-Collar Work

Karen D. Hughes
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Karen D. Hughes: University of Alberta, Canada

Work, Employment & Society, 1996, vol. 10, issue 2, 227-250

Abstract: This article contributes to debates on gender and technology by examining how women's white-collar work is being reshaped in the financial and business service sectors in Canada. These sectors are of distinct interest given their growing use of `second wave' technologies which aim at `re-engineering' traditional work flows. The article examines the gendered dimensions of such change, focusing particularly on the potential of new technologies to reshape task divisions, and job content, which have long been structured along specific gender and occupational lines. Case studies are used to examine how women's work is being transformed in `traditional' areas, such as secretarial work, as well as `nontraditional' areas in para-legal work and insurance sales. The findings show that there has been a blurring of task divisions between clerical/non-clerical and female/male work, with women experiencing diverse consequences depending on their occupational location. The article illustrates the complexity of current processes of technological change and the importance of tracing out interconnections between different forms of white-collar labour.

Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:10:y:1996:i:2:p:227-250

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