scholarly journals Sources of Meaningful Work for Blue-Collar Workers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Tiina Saari ◽  
Minna Leinonen ◽  
Katriina Tapanila
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Blue Collar ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Blue Collar Workers

Research on the meaningfulness of work has increased in recent years, yet there is a limited body of qualitative studies on the topic. This article analyzes how the four basic psychological needs, namely autonomy, competence, relatedness, and beneficence, are articulated as sources of meaningful work by blue-collar workers. The research data consist of responses (N = 679) to one open-ended question in a survey and semi-structured interviews (N = 29) with blue-collar workers from property services and the manufacturing industry in Finland. The data were analyzed by theory-driven content analysis. The main findings are: first, autonomy, competence, relatedness, and beneficence appear as sources of meaningfulness in blue-collar work. Second, blue-collar workers see their work as autonomous and requiring diverse competences. Relatedness in blue-collar work entails having good relations with co-workers and striving to maintain those relationships. Beneficence is multilevel: helping clients, co-workers, organization and even the whole society through work. Organizations should develop organizational practices that may enhance the meaningfulness of work, such as opportunities to use and develop occupational skills. This article participates in the discussion about how satisfying these four basic psychological needs can be a source of meaningful work and offers a sociological-contextual perspective on the discussion about meaningfulness of work.

Vocational Anticipatory Socialization, Self-Determination Theory, and Meaningful Work: Parents’ and Children’s Recollection of Memorable Messages About Work

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Scarduzio ◽  
Kevin Real ◽  
Amanda Slone ◽  
Zachary Henning
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Anticipatory Socialization ◽  
Memorable Messages ◽  
Important Link ◽  
Parent Child Relationships

This study explored memorable messages that parents recall communicating and young adults recall receiving about meaningfulness and work, using the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Analysis of 377 memorable messages revealed that such messages relate to the basic psychological needs underlying SDT competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Autonomy messages were the most commonly recalled by fathers’ whereas mothers’ messages aligned more with competence. Our research suggests implications for the important link between SDT and meaningful work in the context of parent–child relationships. Our theoretical implications extend the connections between the components of SDT and meaningful work and explore how parents’ and young adults’ match and mismatch.

scholarly journals “We’re pushing back”: Group singing, social identity, and caring for a spouse with Parkinson’s

2020 ◽  
pp. 030573562094423
Author(s):  
Melissa Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Effective Community ◽  
Spouse Caregivers ◽  
Community Singing

This article explores spouse caregivers’ experiences of a community singing group for people with Parkinson’s disease and their carers. Previous studies have demonstrated the health and wellbeing benefits of group singing for a range of populations including people with Parkinson’s, however, caregivers’ experiences of these same groups remain under-researched. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six spouse caregivers who regularly attended a joint caregiver/care recipient Parkinson’s singing group for a minimum period of 18 months. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore and interpret caregivers’ experiences of group singing. Using the “social cure approach” as a theoretical lens in the later stages of analysis, findings demonstrated that group singing created a social identity which helped fulfill caregivers’ basic psychological needs for belonging, meaning and purpose, social support, and agency within the marital relationship. Caregivers’ new and valued social identity helped counteract the diminishing effects of life impacted by Parkinson’s. These findings support the recognition and further understanding of group singing as an accessible and cost-effective community-based psychosocial intervention for Parkinson’s spouse caregivers.

On the Implications of Automation in the Manufacture Industry on United States Residing Blue-Collar Workers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghav Sriram
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Robots ◽  
Blue Collar ◽  
United States Bureau ◽  
Blue Collar Workers ◽  
Robotic Devices ◽  
New Jobs

A study done by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics found that of men ages 25 to 54, 13.2% were without work (Eberstadt). The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) believes this can be attributed to the increased use of robots—specifically in the manufacturing industry. Since 2000, industrial robots have replaced 1.7 million manufacturing jobs worldwide, and of these 1.7 million jobs, 260,000 were lost in the United States (Robots’ 'to replace up to 20 million factory jobs' by 2030) displaying the massive contribution automation has had on America’s unemployment crisis. According to Workism Is Making Americans Miserable, blue-collar jobs produce tangible products such as coal steel rods, and houses (Thompson) allowing manufacturers to easily replace them with more economically efficient robots. When 1,896 experts were asked the following question, “Will networked, automated, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and robotic devices have displaced more jobs than they have created by 2025?” Half responded that they envision a future in which robots and digital agents have displaced significant numbers of blue-collar workers with much-expressing concern that this will lead to vast increases in income inequality and a breakdown of social order. The other half believed technology will have not displaced more jobs than it creates by 2025 and predicted human ingenuity will create new jobs, industries, and ways of living to ensure jobs are created (Smith). This uncertainty for what lies ahead in the future makes it imperative to determine the extent automation in the manufacturing industry has impacted blue-collar workers in present society. While automation has led to the development and creation of many new jobs, most of these jobs are unattainable for the traditional blue-collar worker causing many to be replaced and without work. Manufacturing corporations must address this issue by improving the effectiveness of worker training programs and providing financial support for workers who have been displaced.

scholarly journals Women Occupying Management Positions in Top-Level Sport Organizations: A Self-Determination Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Perez-Rivases ◽  
Miquel Torregrosa ◽  
Carme Viladrich ◽  
Susana Pallarès
Keyword(s):  
Women Managers ◽  
Autonomous Motivation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Sport Organizations ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Management Positions

<p>Framed in Self-determination theory (SDT), the purpose of this research was to examine whether the working environment of women in sport management positions could fulfil or thwart their basic psychological needs (BPN) and to explore the motivations that women managers experience in these positions. Eight female managers of top-level sport organizations participated in semi-structured interviews. Results showed that seven of them reported being in an environment that fulfilled their BPN and experienced autonomous motivation in their job. In contrast, one participant reported working in a context that thwarted her BPN and experienced controlled motivation. We present contextual antecedents that were considered satisfying or thwarting of the BPN of those women enrolled in management positions. Insomuch as BPN satisfaction is expected to be related to autonomous motivation and well-being, the current study provides a first insight regarding how sport organizations could promote women managers’ BPN satisfaction and thus increase their autonomous motivation and well-being in such positions.</p>

Exploring Subjective Career Success Among Blue-Collar Workers: Motivators That Matter

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Koekemoer ◽  
Hendrik Le Roux Fourie ◽  
Lene Ilyna Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Blue Collar ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Blue Collar Workers ◽  
Financial Gain ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
African Context ◽  
Subjective Career Success

The purpose of the present study was to explore the experience of subjective career success among an understudied population such as blue-collar workers (BCWs) in a South African context. Employing a qualitative approach, a nonprobability, purposive voluntary sample of 20 workers were drawn from a manufacturing industry. Semistructured interviews were conducted and examined through a comprehensive thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that BCWs experience career success when certain needs are fulfilled in their careers. According to the findings, participants highlighted specific aspects in their work (e.g., support from the organization, aspiration for progression, working to provide, responsibility toward others, and work-related preferences). For BCWs, these aspects fulfill particular needs that lead to specific feelings of career success (e.g., recognition and value, competence and skills, performance, purpose and meaning, working in a conducive environment, and financial gain).

Study shows companies need to take into account value changes of blue-collar Chinese workers

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
White Collar ◽  
Blue Collar ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Know How ◽  
Blue Collar Workers ◽  
Voluntary Employee Turnover ◽  
Chinese Workers ◽  
Value Changes ◽  
Work Goals

Purpose The authors wanted to find out if workers' values had changed compared with previous generations. This is a vital issues for HRM departments who need to know how to keep their workers from moving elsewhere. Design/methodology/approach The author conducted semi-structured interviews into the work values of Chinese blue-collar workers. The interviewees were 25 employees at German multinationals in the auto-making industry in Shanghai. There were 17 blue-collar workers and eight white-collar managers. The blue-collar interviews focused on personal demographics, perceptions of the job and company, attitude toward work, goals in life, main reasons to quit and incentives offered to stay. The white-collar interviews were more focused on managerial issues. Findings The authors concluded that HRM systems should be adapted to meet the preferences of the employees. Companies needed to take into account the value changes of blue-collar Chinese workers. Interviewee comments also revealed that, although pay was still important, career development had become more significant for some workers. Originality/value The author said her paper could help talent managers to get the best out of their employees. In particular, if HRM processes were improved it would reduce voluntary employee turnover, a major problem for employers.

scholarly journals Sex Segregation in U.S. Manufacturing

ILR Review ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Carrington ◽  
Kenneth R. Troske
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Census Bureau ◽  
Blue Collar ◽  
Sex Segregation ◽  
Blue Collar Workers ◽  
Female Wage ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Plant Characteristics ◽  
The U.S

This study of interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry improves on previous work by using more detailed information on the characteristics of both workers and firms and adopting an improved measure of segregation. The data source is the Worker-Establishment Characteristics Database (a U.S. Census Bureau database) for 1990. There are three main findings. First, interplant sex segregation in the U.S. manufacturing industry is substantial, particularly among blue-collar workers. Second, even in analyses that control for a variety of plant characteristics, the authors find that female managers tend to work in the same plants as female supervisees. Finally, they find that interplant sex segregation can account for a substantial fraction of the male/female wage gap in the manufacturing industry, particularly among blue-collar workers.

scholarly journals Development of Adaptation Tools for Pupils on the Autism Spectrum in Microsystems

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Alvyra Galkiene ◽  
Giedre Puskoriene
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Community Activities ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
Education Process

This research investigates the possibilities for the development of adaptation tools for pupils on the autism spectrum (AS), studying in the first and second forms, within their microsystems. Five mothers and five teachers of children on the AS participated in the research, and their insights help reveal the process of moving from one microsystem to another for a child on the AS. Children studying in the first and second forms were chosen because children experience a particularly significant social turning-point during this period. The following question is raised: How do synergy-driven processes taking place in the microsystems of pupils on the AS contribute to the development of the adaptation processes in these children? The research data was collected via semi-structured interviews and underwent qualitative content analysis. The research results reveal that the development of adaptation tools in children on the AS is determined by a mesosystem that covers various combinations of microsystems, and the synergy between the factors of the microsystems creates conditions for a child’s gradual transfer from one microsystem to another, perceiving the mechanisms of its functioning, and adapting within them. A mesosystem, which evolves on the school campus, within a family, and with specialists, not only encourages the development of adaptation tools in a child on the AS but also helps mothers to restore their inner harmony and actively engage in their children’s education process. In the microsystem of their peers, children on the AS acquire fundamental instruments for participation in community activities.

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