Introduction: Gendered practices of working life create gender inequalities through horizontal and vertical gender segregation in work, which may lead to inequalities in health between women and men. Gender equality could therefore be a key element of health equity in working life. Our aim was to analyze what gender (in) equality means for the employees at a woman-dominated workplace and discuss possible implications for health experiences. Methods: All caregiving staff at two workplaces in elder care within a municipality in the north of Sweden were invited to participate in the study. Forty-five employees participated, 38 women and 7 men. Seven focus group discussions were performed and led by a moderator. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the focus groups. Results: We identified two themes. "Advocating gender equality in principle" showed how gender (in) equality was seen as a structural issue not connected to the individual health experiences. "Justifying inequality with individualism" showed how the caregivers focused on personalities and interests as a justification of gender inequalities in work division. The justification of gender inequality resulted in a gendered work division which may be related to health inequalities between women and men. Gender inequalities in work division were primarily understood in terms of personality and interests and not in terms of gender. Conclusion: The health experience of the participants was affected by gender (in) equality in terms of a gendered work division. However, the participants did not see the gendered work division as a gender equality issue. Gender perspectives are needed to improve the health of the employees at the workplaces through shifting from individual to structural solutions. A healthy-setting approach considering gender relations is needed to achieve gender equality and fairness in health status between women and men.

Introduction The interest in relations between arts and workplace related health has increased. The focus has mostly been on the work of arts and health from a disease perspective and to the best of our knowledge the research focusing on relation between the artists and workplace related health from a salutogenic perspective is rare. In 2007 a project called the Contemporary Artists in Contemporary Society (CACS) Scania project was implemented and evaluated. The project consisted of twelve visual artists being positioned at eight workplaces on half time for a period of six months. The idea of the project was that unprejudiced meetings between the artists and the staff could result in workplace related health promoting processes. This study will try to unravel some of the mystery of how artists’ presence can result in workplace related promotion of health.    Aim The aim was to identify success factors for visual artists functioning as health promoters at a workplace.   Procedure The search for success criterion started with going through the project descriptions and the evaluation reports from the CACS Scania project. This exposition led to the selection of one project that was considered a particularly successful case. Two artists had been placed at the office for management of regional development in Scania. The employees consisted mainly of civil servants and administrators. The evaluation material belonging to this particular project was studied, searching for possible explanations to the success of the project. The material consisted of digital recordings from a focus group interview with five of the participating staff, an interview with the manager, an interview with the two artists as well as stories written by the two artists throughout the project and finally the project description as well as the folder that the two artists produced as a summary of the project. The analysis of the material was influenced by qualitative content analysis and three categories of success factors were found.   Results The experience of the participating staff The result showed that the staff mainly had had positive project related experiences. The staffs’ experiences could be linked to the salutogenic factors comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. The various project related activities were found to be meaningful and the different activities were considered a pleasant reflective break from an everyday routine based and hectic practice. Some of the staff reported having problems managing the openness and indistinctiveness of the project, but the frequent communication with the artists, as well as support from the manager made the indistinctiveness manageable. The presence of the artists and the different project related activities were often found to be amusing, with adherent facilitation of wellbeing among the staff. At other occasions the presence of the artists could be considered disturbing. The artists brought new perspectives into the workplace that sometimes challenged the staffs’ customary way of thinking and acting, opening up possibilities for creativity and reflective processes of work related learning. It seemed as if the positive health related experiences of the staff relied on communication and mutual construction of intellectual fellowship and project related meaning (intersubjectivity).   A framework for the work of the artists Four criteria were considered a useful framework for a description of the artists successful work at the workplace. 1. Presence - The artists were often present at the workplace. 2. Inspiration – The artists were inspired by the workplace. 3. Activity - The artists were constantly presenting things and activated the staff through out the project 4. Communication – The artists communicated with the staff during the development, implementation and completion process of the project.   Organisational climate It seemed as if the organisational climate was suitable for using artists as health promoters. The staff and the manager were for instance describing them as willing to try new and innovative strategies for the development of their work in general and their work related health in particular.   Conclusion To conclude there is a health promoting potential when involving artists as health promoters at a workplace. For this potential to be realised we found three categories of success factors. The experience of the participating staff were considered important since positive experiences, with adherent positive feelings, form the base for psychological and biological processes that generally have a positive impact on health. These experiences are on the other hand dependent on other facilitating factors, that here can be linked to for instance the artists as well as the organisational climate.

Sammanfattning Titel: Flexibilitet utan gränser Författare: Anders Spångmark och Anna Öhrner Handledare: Michael Allvin Lärosäte: Uppsala Universitet Datum: 2013-05-22 Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka vilka konsekvenser intervjupersonerna upplever till följd av sitt flexibla arbete. Syftet är också att ta reda på om intervjupersonerna använder sig av några strategier för att hantera det flexibla arbetet och i så fall vilka dessa strategier är. Studien syftar även till att diskutera hur dessa strategier förhåller sig till de institutionaliserade och mer traditionella sätten att reglera arbetet. Metod: Uppsatsens empiriska material bygger på åtta stycken intervjuer med personer som har ett flexibelt arbete, innebärande att de själva kan påverka var och när deras arbetsuppgifter utförs. Efter behandlingen av materialet analyserades det och diskuterades med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning inom området. Resultat/slutsats: Det flexibla arbetssättet kan innebära många konsekvenser för individen. Främst beskrivs svårigheter när det gäller kommer till gränsdragning mellan arbete och fritid, en känsla av otillräcklighet och påverkan på individens relationer. Vissa individuella strategier för att hantera det flexibla arbetet återkom hos flera av intervjupersonerna. Dessa har sammanställts till tre huvudstrategier för hur de intervjuade väljer att hantera konsekvenserna av det flexibla arbetet. Det framgår också att dessa strategier tenderar att gå i en annan riktning än de institutionaliserade formerna för reglering av arbetet, genom lagstiftning och partsöverenskommelser, där dessa har svårt att täcka in det flexibla arbetet. Nyckelord: Flexibelt arbete, strategier, coping, gränsdragning / Abstract Title: Flexibility without boundaries Authors: Anders Spångmark och Anna Öhrner Mentor: Michael Allvin University: Uppsala University Date: 2013-05-22 Purpose and problem statement: The purpose of the essay is to research the consequences of flexibility in the workplace, as they’re experienced by the interviewees. The purpose is furthermore to investigate whether the interviewees make use of any coping strategies to handle the work-related flexibility and, in that case, what those strategies are. The essay will also contain a discussion about how the aforementioned strategies relate to the institutionalized and more traditional means to regulate labor. Approach: The empiric data of the essay is based on eight interviews with people who all have flexible jobs, in the sense that they can affect where and when they are to carry out their job assignments. The data was subsequently processed, analyzed and discussed, using earlier research on the subject as a foundation. Results/conclusions: Flexibility in the workplace can be the cause of many different consequences for the concerned individual. The consequences most prominently described are difficulties regarding demarcation between work and leisure, a sense of inadequacy and the effect flexibility in the workplace has on personal relationships. Some individual strategies to handle flexibility in the workplace proved to be utilized by several interviewees. These have been compiled into three main categories. The results show that these strategies tend to go in a different direction, so to speak, than the institutionalized means to regulate flexibility in the workplace, such as legislation and covenants. This is a result of the fact that it’s difficult to apply the institutionalized means to flexibility in the workplace. Key words: Flexibility in the workplace, strategies, coping, demarcation

The present study examines differences in political perspectives and moral identity as facilitators of retaliation of workplace incivility. It is proposed that following uncivil treatment, emotional appraisals of uncivil treatment will influence targets' retaliatory behavior; individuals who feel angry or demoralized after being treated uncivilly will be more likely to retaliate than individuals who do not negatively appraise incivility. In addition, political affiliation and moral identity are posited as moderators of the relationship between experiencing incivility and emotionally appraising the experience, as well as the relationship between emotional appraisal and retaliation. This study utilized a sample of 355 participants who completed an online survey regarding their experiences with incivility three weeks before and one week after the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Results indicate that Democrats most frequently retaliated against Republicans at high levels of received incivility from Republicans, yet Republicans engaged in the most retaliatory incivility against Democrats at low levels of incivility from Democrats. Furthermore, internalization buffered the likelihood of retaliation, while symbolization enhanced it. In three-way interactions predicting retaliatory incivility, low internalization and high symbolization Democrats most frequently retaliated against Republicans; unexpectedly, high symbolization Democrats also most frequently retaliated against Democrats. Predicting emotional appraisals from received incivility, symbolization enhanced relationships between incivility and appraisals. High internalization Republicans reported the greatest increase in anger when treated uncivilly by Democrats. Predicting retaliation from appraisals, Republicans retaliated against Democrats most frequently when angered or demoralized, but Democrats did not report retaliating against Republicans. Additionally, high symbolization Republicans reported retaliating against other Republicans when angered or demoralized. Results were not completely aligned with past theory and research, but they generally indicate that morality plays a large role in the prediction of emotional appraisals and retaliation in response to uncivil treatment. Furthermore, morality seems to be a more important predictor of retaliation than social identity processes. Finally, it is clear that emotions relate to the receipt and retaliation of incivility, and future research should clarify these relationships. This study contributes to the literature by examining how social issues that are seemingly unrelated to the workplace can negatively affect interpersonal interactions at work.

Smartphones används allt mer i arbetslivet. De här har bland annat resulterat i att gränsen mellan arbetsliv och vardagsliv sakta börjat suddas ut. Användningen kan leda till att användare upplever stress, alternativt får en ökad känsla av kontroll. Vi har undersökt vad som påverkar användarens upplevelse av stress respektive kontroll. Utifrån en litteraturstudie kunde vi identifiera tolv olika nyckelpunkter som kan summera användares stress och kontrollpåverkan från smartphones. Genom en intervjuundersökning urskildes sedan fyra stycken olika teman, som kunde delas upp i nyckelpunkter. Nyckelpunkterna från resultatet kunde sedan jämföras med de tolv nyckelpunkterna från litteraturstudien. Det resulterade i att tre nya stress och kontrollpåverkningar kunde identifieras. / Smartphones have with their ability to handle many different types of communication on the go, become a big part of the workplace. This has led to a distortion between home and work life, making the line between them blurry. The result of this is that many users feel an increment in stress, alternatively control. This paper aims to find out what affects the users experience of stress and or control. On the basis of a literature study, twelve key points were identified that could describe users experience of stress and control with smartphones. We could through a interview study make out four themes which also could be divided into key points. The key points from the result where compared to the twelve key points from the literature which led to the result that all of the twelve key points from the literature could be confirmed, as well as four new effects on stress and control could be identified.

Problem: Nurses are potentially exposed to hazardous drugs (HDs) in their practice. HD exposure is associated with adverse outcomes (reproductive problems, learning disabilities in offspring of nurses exposed during pregnancy, and cancer occurrence). Safe handling precautions (safety equipment and personal protective equipment, [PPE]) minimize exposure to HDs and decrease the potential for adverse outcomes. Despite existing OSHA recommendations, adherence to precautions is below recommendations. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among factors affecting nurses’ use of HD safe handling precautions, to identify factors that promote or interfere with HD precaution use, and to determine nurse managers’ perspectives on use of safe handling precautions. This study used a conceptual model which proposes that both individual and organizational factors influence precaution use. Methods: A cross-sectional, correlational design was used. Nurses (N = 165; 46% response rate) from oncology centers across the US who reported handling chemotherapy completed a mailed survey. Instruments measured HD precaution use, knowledge, self efficacy, barriers, perceived risk, conflict of interest, interpersonal influences and workplace safety climate. Hierarchical regression was used. Twenty managers of nurses handling chemotherapy were interviewed. Results: Nurses were experienced in oncology (M = 15.8 ± 7.6) yrs, well-educated (62.5% ≥BSN), certified in oncology nursing (85%), worked in outpatient settings (69%), and on average treated 6.8 ± 5.2 patients per day. Chemotherapy exposure knowledge was high (M = 10.9, ± 1, 0-12 scale); as was self efficacy for using PPE (M = 20.8 ± 3, 7-24 scale), and perceived risk (M = 3.14 ± .6, 0-4 scale). Total precaution use during HD administration and disposal was low (M = 1.9, SD = 1.1, 0= never to 5 = 100%). Nurse characteristics did not predict HD precaution use. In the final model (R2 = .29, F (2, 155) = 24.6, p < .000), fewer patients per day, fewer barriers and better workplace safety climate were independent predictors of higher precaution use. Conclusions: Results emphasize the importance of organizational influence on nurses’ HD safe handling precaution use and suggest fostering a positive workplace safety climate and reducing barriers as interventions.

This project examines the experiences of 37 gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees of professional, collegiate, and club sport. Using intensive, non-directive interviews and Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM), I explore how employees negotiate the near-total sport institution, perceive the environment for sexual minorities in sport, manage their sexual identities, and identify potential allies at work. Participants informed their beliefs about the sport workplace by the totality of their direct and indirect experiences, their observation of others, and their accumulated experiences in sport as athletes and employees. While employees’ perceptions of the sport environment were slightly negative, their actual experiences were predominantly neutral or positive. Participants discussed their workplace experiences in terms of coming out, being out, and acting out. They identified levels of “how out” they were, even as their behaviors belied that designation. “Being out,” for these participants, involved relying on various motivations and strategies at work. One group of participants felt coming out was part of a larger moral imperative to create social change, and did so by emphasizing gay identity over sport or work identity. A second group felt it was professional or responsible to stay closeted at work, noting that personal lives and private lives should not intersect. A third group also highlighted their work and sport identities over their gay identity, without attaching any liability to their sexual identity. These employees, who were the youngest members of the sample, did not place significance on sexual identity as a salient feature of their overall identity. “Acting out” involved both active and passive strategies to emphasize or deemphasize sexual identity at work. This project suggests that the processes by which employees negotiate their workplace environments (and, particularly, sport as a workplace) are complex and nuanced. For non-heteronormative employees working in sport, their processes of coming out, acting out, and being out were mediated by many factors, including age, type of sport, workplace hierarchy and identity formation processes.

Snabb, teknisk utveckling har förändrat kommunikationen på arbetsplatsen. Den virtuella kontexten har bidragit med digitala kommunikationssätt, där e-posten är den populäraste. Fördelarna är stora. E-posten sparar tid och är kostnadseffektiv. Enligt tidig forskning har organisationers prestationer i stor utsträckning berott på kommunikationen och relationen mellan chefer och medarbetare. Med utgångspunkt från att det finns begränsad forskning kring medarbetares upplevelser av chefens e-postkommunikation har den här studiens syfte varit att utifrån medarbetarens perspektiv belysa hur den virtuella kontexten påverkar den nedåtriktade kommunikationen på arbetsplatsen. Fokus låg på vilka effekter e-posten har på sättet att kommunicera, relationen, förtroendet och arbetsprestationen. Studiens fokus resulterade i en kvalitativ design, eftersom syftet var att undersöka beskrivande data genom individers upplevelser och skapa en förståelse. Urvalet utgick från kriteriet att deltagarna arbetade i en virtuell kontext, där de använde e-postkommunikation med sin chef som ett naturligt kommunikationsverktyg. Utifrån en frågeguide utfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. En tematisk analys resulterade i fyra teman; kognitiva förmågor, samspelet mellan medarbetare och chef, vilka känslor som beskrivs, gränsdragningarna i tid, rum och arbete. E-posten visade sig vara komplex. Den var snabb och samtidigt en tidstjuv. Den bidrog med känslan av tillhörighet och delaktighet, men också osäkerhet och missförstånd. Vi behöver e-postkompetens i våra organisationer för att minimera de negativa effekterna. / Quick, technological development changed communication in the workplace. The virtual context contributed by digital means of communication, where e-mail is the most popular. The benefits are great. E-mail save time and is cost effective. According to early research organizations' performance was largely due to communication and relationships between managers and employees. In regard to the limited research on employees´ experience of the manager´s e-mail communication, this study´s purpose was based on the employee's perspective, highlighting how the virtual context influences the downward communication in the workplace. The study focused on the effects and affects e-mail has on communication, relationships, confidence and work performance. The study resulted in a qualitative design, which aim was to examine the descriptive data by individual experiences and create additional understanding. The selection was based on the criterion that the participants would work in a virtual context, where they would use e-mail communication with their manager as a tool. Based on a questionnaire guide, six semi-structured interviews were conducted. A thematic analysis resulted in four themes: cognitive abilities, interaction between employees and management, which affected as described, borderlines of time, space and labor. E-mail proved to be a complex concept. It was fast, while simultaneously a time thief. It contributed to a sense of belonging and participation, but also uncertainty and misunderstanding. We need e-mail skills in our organizations to minimize negative effects and affects.

Facebook har blivit ett av de mest populära redskapen för socialt nätverkande och kommunikation. År 2010 hade Facebook över 500 miljoner anhängare. Syftet med studien var att undersöka användandet av Facebook i privatlivet men även i relation till arbetslivet. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes via tillgänglighetsurval, det var naturligt i denna studie att finna respondenterna via Facebook. Intervjuerna var halvstrukturerade. Intervjuguiden var uppdelad utifrån olika ämnesområden: användandet av Facebook, Integritet, Sociala faktorer och Arbetsplatsen. Medverkande var 13 personer, varav fyra män som använde Facebook i arbetslivet. Resultatet visade att Facebook var ett populärt kommunikativt verktyg för att hålla kontakten med vänner, familj och kollegor och ett sätt att ta pauser i arbetet. Resultatet påvisade även oro kring hur respondenterna upplevde att de uppfattades av kollegor och chefer. Studien bidrar till ökad kunskap om hur Facebook påverkar anställda. Studien var ett bekvämlig-hetsurval.

This qualitative study investigated the urgent need for business and public schools to design a comprehensive system for preparing all students for a technological workplace, while giving them the necessary academic foundation for functioning effectively in a work environment. Businesses and communities need to participate with schools, regardless of where the schools are located. Schools, businesses and communities must explore and work together to create new methods for supporting technology in schools and in the workplace. The interviewees who participated in the study consisted of 21 teachers and administrators from four high schools located within four districts in San Antonio, Texas. Two of the high schools were located in southern San Antonio and were classified as lower socioeconomic institutions. The other two high schools were located in northern San Antonio and were classified as upper socioeconomic institutions. Also, seven business leaders were interviewed from (1) grocery, (2) San Antonio city government, (3) military, (4) large retail chain, (5) technology organization and business, (6) telecommunications, and (7) a youth-oriented organization. The major conclusions of the study were that businesses believe that a skill-deficient workplace hampers economic growth and productivity, and a knowledge-deficient high school graduate limits his or her opportunities for an extended academic experience. Few businesses in San Antonio supported or contributed to technology competencies in the selected schools in San Antonio by participating in curriculum development or as partnerships within the schools. All teachers had a high level of understanding about the importance of technology competencies for students. Furthermore, they believed that teachers and administrators must have a well-organized and fluid technology training program that will help integration of technology into the curriculum. Schools within the lower socioeconomic classification did not have many opportunities for training or access to technology; therefore, the teachers did not have the opportunity for building their competencies. In comparison, the schools located in northern San Antonio had more than adequate opportunities for training and access to technology. Educational, business, and community organizations must be concerned with all aspects of student learning and their ability to utilize technology. It is not enough to supply hardware and software to schools.