Inequality in the Automated Office

The Impact of Computers on the Division of Labour

Bibliographic Data

ID2354253
AuthorsAngelika Volst, Ina Wagner (0000-0003-4416-6259)
Year1988
Volume3
Issue2
Pages129-154
Publication date1988-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-5809 • E-ISSN: 1461-7242
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/026858088003002002
OpenAlexW1984472432
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited8

This paper seeks to combine an analysis of changes in the organisation of office work with an assessment of their consequences for the affected workers, focussing simultaneously on type of work and gender. Four major trends are identified, using case-study material and survey data from a sample of Austrian work organisations: (i) reintegration of data input and text production into professional jobs; (ii) incorporation of technical and professional tasks into secretarial work; (iii) routinisation of 'back office' work; (iv) enrichment and upgrading of skilled clerical work. In correspondence with these trends, opportunities in the automated office are unequally distributed. Many perceived gender differences are due to the position a woman or man holds in the office rather than to their gender. Still, men have more opportunities to use computerisation for advancement than their female colleagues, irrespective of type of work. Disadvantages cumulate in the lower qualified office jobs that are still women's preserve

Demographic economics · Division of labour · Economics · Gender inequality · Inequality · Management · Office workers · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Law · Work-Family Balance Challenges

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