UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 25, Page 3
March 25, 1993
On the job; Visiting prof focuses on sociology of the workplace

     The sociology of the workplace is the focus of research carried out by
Patricia Yancey Martin, Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department
of Sociology and Criminal Justice.
     For that research, she has studied corporations, non-profit
organizations and government agencies, investigating all aspects of the
workplace--how companies are structured, the role of bureaucracy, how
people are organized, how employees experience work and employee
satisfaction and dissatisfaction on the job. Much of her research has been
concerned with gender-related issues.
     Some of her findings, based on interviews with groups of employees
ranked at approximately the same level, contradict commonly held
misperceptions held about work and workers. For example, her research shows
that both men and women like to work with women.
     There is some resentment against women in certain jobs, she said, such
as on construction sites, in coal mines or in high-risk jobs, but, in
general, men accept and welcome women in the workplace.
     Martin has found that, when women are grouped together and segregated
in an  organization, they are more satisfied. When they are grouped with
men, women become more aware of salary and opportunity inequities, and they
are more dissatisfied. Generally speaking, in the latter scenario, men get
the promotions, have jobs and titles created for them and are paid more,
while women are crowded into a few job levels and play a more supportive
role.
     However, Martin said, women who are dissatisfied at work seem to be
more demanding and more mobile in changing jobs, perhaps because those
studied don't have family responsibilities or their husbands' support gives
them more freedom of action. Men, on the other hand, tend to wait it out if
work is not progressing smoothly because their families depend on them.
     The current economy has hurt men, Martin said. Many blue-collar jobs
have been eliminated, and, in industrial restructuring, the quality of jobs
for men has decreased. Men's earnings peaked in the 1970's and have not
recovered.
     Today's economy has hurt women as well, but more women are better
educated and have entered the workforce in jobs formerly held by men,
including book editors, bank managers, pharmacists and insurance adjusters.
One reason may be that with the advent of computers and mechanization, some
of these jobs have become more routine and less attractive to men. Women's
access to them does not always lead to higher salaries or status, Martin
said.
     With men and women in the workplace together, the micro dynamics have
changed, Martin said.
     For example, at committee meetings, men tend to dominate and talk
more, and women tend to be quieter, irrespective of their desire to speak,
because gender-based norms permit men to speak more than women in public.  
     Men and women also have different expectations in the workplace, she
explained, and some men feel uncomfortable in their dealings with women.
For example, if a man is not performing well on the job, a male supervisor
will call him in and openly tell him he must improve. With a woman, some
male supervisors don't know how to handle the problem, are not as clear and
frank with her and are concerned they will be misunderstood and labeled
"sexist" if they are forthright and plain-spoken.
     In other instances, female employees feel undervalued on the job
because their male supervisors do not voice appreciation. "I have pointed
out to these women that  it is not necessarily a gender issue," Martin
said. "The supervisor may treat men the same way."
     Men and women also are interpreted differently, she said. Women who
are critical or get angry are seen as hysterical or unreliable, while the
same behavior in men is more acceptable and is often viewed as a sign of
strength.
     When gender issues and misinterpretations are brought out in the open
and confronted, there is less stress, more understanding of viewpoints and
a greater possibility of "agreeing to disagree," according to Martin.
     The key people in an organization are important. "If there is one rule
I have learned from observing organizations, it is that behavior produces
attitudes, not the reverse. If management sets an example, abides by its
own policies in the workplace, values respect and inclusion, then others
will follow.
     "A good leader does not just give orders," she said, "He or she asks
for cooperation to achieve common goals and encourages employees to work
together."
     Martin has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on corporations
and gender, as well as issues related to the women's movement, and she has
been a constultant on resolving problems in the workplace. Calling herself
an "unlikely feminist," growing up in a small Southern town in the 1950s,
she was involved in a class action suit against Florida State University
and the State University System of Florida early in her career. Following
the suit, women were promoted and tenured in greater numbers, received
salary adjustments and became included in that university's affirmative
action plan, opening up further opportunities for the women who followed.
     A graduate of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, with a master's
degree and doctorate from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Martin is
the Daisy Flory Alumni Professor at Florida State University. With a grant
from the National Science Foundation, Martin will continue her research at
Ohio State University next year.
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure