Power, gender construction, and interactional processes of family-to-work impact in married couples
By: by Ching-See Connie Wong.
Published: 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 219
Subjects: Man-woman relationships.; Interpersonal relations.; Married people; Wives -- Effect of husband's employment on.; Wives -- Social conditions.; Married women -- Employment.; Sex role.; Women employees -- Social conditions.; Work and family.; Women -- Time management.
Description: A qualitative study using a feminist framework was conducted to explore the processes by which wives come to bear the major responsibility for adjusting work activities (e.g. scaling back to part-time work) to accommodate family needs. Twenty participants (ten couples) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Four major processes were examined. In terms of the process of  manifest power, the most common interaction pattern found consisted of the wife's initiation of a change attempt, followed by her husband's resistance using various strategies, and ending with the wife's compliance either with or without further struggles. With regard to the process of latent power, wives were found to be much more likely than husbands to be constrained from expressing their grievances due to factors such as feelings of resignation or fears of disturbing the relationship. Deeply embedded  invisible power dynamics were uncovered by examining perceptual biases, patterns in the overall sample, contradictions between participants' explanations for the status quo and their actual experiences of daily life, and the validity of participants' rationales when situations were reversed. Finally, the process of social construction of gender constructed "male" and "female" as dichotomous categories through the use of expectations, assumptions, division of labour, and different meanings attached to spouses' earnings and careers. Attention to these four processes has facilitated a deeper analysis of family-to-work impact and highlighted the ways in which gender distinctions and inequalities are continually being created.
Notes: Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-202).