Abstract
This study argues that job and workplace characteristics, in addition to individual and household characteristics, are important predictors of class identity among women office workers. This expands on earlier research findings on the importance of women's own socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics as predictors of class identity. The author also addresses whether class identity is related to (a) “proletarianized” working conditions, (b) office automation, and (c) organizational context. The results show that both intrinsic job rewards and work autonomy are associated with a more middle-class identity. Although greater use of video display terminals is linked with a more working-class identity, office workers in small office settings become more middle class in their identity the longer the office has been automated. This suggests that organizational context may mediate the relationship between automation and class identity.
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