No description available.

Toward the end of the 1990S, a large number of people were drawn into work in the new economy. The use of information and communications technology (LCf') was said to promise a gender-neutral world of work. The Internet, transcending temporal and spatial divisions, is supposed to create new employment options. This thesis examines the ways in which both genders in Thailand use the Internet to make or further their career. It asks to what extent work on the Internet really opens up new career opportunities. It also explores the extent to which the Internet enables women and men to escape their gendered identity, allowing them different identities, in cyberspace and, at home, enabling the redefinition of gender arrangements in the domestic domain. In-depth interviews with 55 participants in Thailand reveal that work with leTs has generated a new form of employment that is informal, flexible and more uncertain. In addition, Thai women can use the Internet to start their own online business, and this can enhance their economic independence and allow them to negotiate gendered relations from a stronger bargaining position. However, the findings also illustrate that women face a contradiction between economic independence and their roles as mothers and wives. Conforming to a hetero-normative ideology creates ambivalence about changing gender roles, and particular pressures for women combining paid and unpaid work. ICf has provided a new economic opportunity, accessible to both women and men, yet most women continue to prioritise care-giving responsibilities. This dilemma leads to greater conflicts, particularly for women, between careers and family.

No description available.

No description available.

What does ‘work-life balance’ (WLB) mean to today’s generation of university graduates and what support do they expect? This thesis examines the relationship between these young people’s conceptualizations of the WLB discourse and their expectations of employer and government WLB support. In recent times, the topic of WLB has gained wide academic and public attention. However, an emergent critical perspective signifies the problematic nature of the WLB discourse (e.g. Lewis, Gambles, & Rapoport, 2007). Furthermore, much of the work-life literature tends to focus on workers who have caring and/or other family responsibilities, thereby confining our understanding of WLB experiences to a particular demographic cohort. Accordingly, this study focuses explicitly on the WLB perspectives and expectations of young British and Asian people who are in transition from university to work and employment. By including young Asian people’s viewpoints, this study provides insight into how young people from this region talk about and conceptualize the WLB discourse. More specifically, the research examines the variability in the ways in which these young people from Western and Eastern contexts make sense of the WLB discourse in the here-and-now Britain as they and their personal, social, and cultural contexts undergo transformation. Thematic analysis was employed on qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted with 30 women and men from the UK, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, all of whom are studying in the UK. Drawing on an integrated theoretical framework of life course theory (Giele & Elder, 1998) and the sense of entitlement concept (Lewis & Smithson, 2001), the analysis suggests that the notion of ‘individual choice’ strongly underpins these young people’s conceptualizations and expectations of the WLB discourse. While most participants largely consider WLB as a matter of individual choice, there are also variations in preferences for how to prioritize their impending employment and personal lives, illustrated in a proposed typology of four emerging WLB orientation preference patterns of ‘balancer’, ‘careerist’, ‘career-sacrificer’, and ‘integrator’. Findings also indicate that the notion of individual choice impacts on the participants’ expectations of employer and government WLB support, where the majority have a low sense of entitlement to such support. Although most participants demonstrate an awareness of the ‘business case’ for employers to adopt WLB initiatives, many question their effectiveness. Instead, there appears to be a stronger sense of entitlement to individual choice. In terms of government WLB support, young people feel disconnected to what the government can do for them. The findings reveal that social comparisons are made among these young British and Asian people at both personal and national levels, which in turn shape perceptions of what kind of external WLB support is feasible, normative, and appropriate for them to expect. Overall, the findings indicate that while individual choice is fundamental in the young people’s conceptualizations and expectations of WLB, the choices that they have are inextricably interlinked with their life course contexts and structural and cultural realities. The thesis highlights the importance of contextualizing meanings and expectations of the WLB discourse in the timing of these young people’s lives as well as their multiple contexts (structural, national, and cultural). It contributes theoretically to the field of work-life research by proposing and developing an integrated theoretical framework of life course theory and sense of entitlement to examine the various ways in which WLB is conceptualized and expectations of external WLB support are formed. Finally, the thesis discusses the theoretical and applied implications of the findings for understanding the diverse WLB expectations of today’s generation of young workers and considers future avenues for research.

No description available.

When exploring workplace phenomena such as well-being, it is important to recognise the context in which the experience takes place. For example, many contemporary jobs require people to interact with others or to work in groups. Therefore, the social dimension of the workplace well-being experience calls for recognition in research. Keeping the social context of work in mind, the PhD programme had two research aims in order to develop current understanding further on what well-being encompasses and what the best ways are to enhance it. The first aim was to explore relevant components of individual workplace well-being. The second aim was to explore the relevance of two antecedents of individual workplace well-being: Authenticity and social identification were conceptualized through an identity lens as identity-related resources, incorporating the personal self (authenticity) and the social self (shared social identity). Well-being experience accounts of managers, consultants, and staff from different work contexts were explored in two studies through questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups and then analysed with thematic qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest that well-being descriptions from people who work are aligned with existing well-being concepts. Furthermore, the social aspect of well-being was indeed highlighted through the frequent use of indicators such as feeling connected with others, high interaction, and collaboration. In addition, depending on whose well-being was explored, different workplace well-being components were referred to in descriptions of the experience. The findings further suggest that the identity-related resources can act as positive, negative, or irrelevant resources for well-being depending on the work context (i.e. job role and work characteristics). This research indicates that the social aspect of the well-being is a prevalent part of the experience and is not just important in itself but is also for successfully working together with others. Furthermore, any action to improve well-being needs to be tailored to the characteristics of the work context and the workers themselves.

No abstract available / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

No abstract available / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

L’objectif principal de ce travail doctoral est de clarifier les relations existantes entre les facteurs organisationnels et le harcèlement moral dans le secteur public ukrainien afin de formuler des mesures de prévention de harcèlement psychologique en milieu organisationnel.A notre humble connaissance, c’est la première étude qui met la lumière sur l’état de harcèlement moral ainsi que sur ses déterminants en Ukraine, où la législation en matière de harcèlement est absente. Cette thèse a également pour ambition de tester l’impact des caractéristiques individuelles de la victime sur le harcèlement moral.Pour ce faire, nous avons mené notre étude en trois temps. Dans un premier temps, nous avons réalisé une analyse de 450 articles sur le sujet. L’objectif de cette étape était de cerner les principaux facteurs organisationnels influençant le harcèlement moral dans le milieu de l’entreprise à partir d’une définition précise : une durée minimale du harcèlement d’au moins 6 mois et une notion de répétitivité de l’acte d’une façon hebdomadaire ou mensuelle. Il s’est avéré que cinq types de facteurs contribuent à l’explication du harcèlement moral, à savoir : l’organisation du travail, le leadership, la culture organisationnelle et le climat social, le système de récompenses et les changements organisationnels.Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons réalisé une étude exploratoire qualitative visant à affiner les résultats d’analyse de la littérature par des éléments propres au terrain ukrainien. 12 entretiens semi-directifs ont été réalisés avec des spécialistes médicaux travaillant dans l’ hôpital obstétrique de Kharkiv (Ukraine). La finalité de cette étape s’est concrétisée par la construction du modèle de recherche.Enfin, dans un troisième temps, une étude confirmatoire quantitative nous a permis de tester statistiquement des liens entre quatorze facteurs organisationnels et trois dimensions du harcèlement moral.Le harcèlement moral a été mesuré à travers une méthode béhavioriste (NAQ, Einarsen et al., 1994). Pour mesurer les variables organisationnelles, nous avons constitué notre propre questionnaire en nous inspirant de plusieurs échelles de mesures testées et validées dans des recherches antérieures. Les démarches de validation transculturelle d’un questionnaire de Vallerand (1989) ont été ensuite appliquées.Au cours de cette étude quantitative, 243 personnes ont été questionnées. 35% sont victimes du harcèlement régulier durant les 6 mois précédant la recherche. Il ressort de notre analyse que le fait d’être un homme augmente la probabilité d’être harcelé. Quant aux facteurs organisationnels, il s’avère que le conflit de rôle, le conflit au travail, le soutien social et l’autorité décisionnelle sont les déterminants majeurs du harcèlement moral dans le contexte ukrainien. / The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to clarify the existing relations between organisational factors and mobbing in the Ukrainian public sector so to formulate the prevention measures of psychological harassment in the organisational area. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first research that shed light into the psychological harassment as well as on its factors in Ukraine, where the legislation to that matter is inexistent. This thesis has also the ambition to test the impact of individual characteristics of the victim with psychological harassment. To that end, we conducted a research in three steps. Firstly, an analysis of 450 articles has been realised. The aim of that step was to grasp the main organisation factors that influence psychological harassment in a company environment using a precise definition: a minimal harassment length of at least 6 months and a notion of repeatability of the act weekly or monthly. It appeared that five types of factors contribute to the explanation of psychological harassment, namely: work organisation, leadership, the organisational culture and social climate, the compensation and benefit system and organisation changes. Secondly, we led a qualitative exploratory research aiming to refine the results of the literature review with elements that are specific to the Ukrainian area. Twelve semi-structured interviews have been conducted with medical specialists working in obstetrics hospitals located in Kharkiv (Ukraine). The goal of this step resulted in the construction of the research model. Finally, a confirmatory quantitative study helped us to test statistically correlations between fourteen organisational factors and three dimensions of mobbing. Mobbing has been measured through a behavioural method (NAQ, Einarsen et al., 1994). In order to measure the organisation variables, we structured our own survey by inspiring us from several measuring scales tested and validated in previous studies. The transcultural validation steps of one survey of Vallerand (1989) have been applied. Through this quantitative research, 243 participants have been surveyed. Among those, 35% are regular harassment victims during 6 months preceding the research. The analysis brings out that the fact of being a man increases the likelihood of being harassed. When it comes to organisational factors, it turns out that role conflict, work conflict, social support and decision authority are all major determinants in moral harassment in the Ukrainian context.