Hakim’s Preference Theory on the heterogeneity of the work-life preferences of women, and in particular its implicit assumption that a woman’s preference to work or to stay at home is based on her personal choices, has frequently been criticized. Other researchers emphasize the constraining influence that a woman’s personal, financial and family situation can have on her preferences. Our article aims at contributing to this debate by analysing the work orientations of female returners, in themselves a particular job-seeking category which differs noticeably from other categories in regard to their central motivation when considering whether or not to re-enter a paid job. Our research indicates that older female returners are more job and people oriented than younger ones. Female returners with a lower level of education and female returners with financial problems are money oriented, whereas higher educated female returners and female returners who are financially well off show more of a job orientation. Surprisingly, the presence of young children in the household does not significantly influence the work orientations of female returners.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allaart, P.C. and De Voogd-Hamelink, A.M. (1994) Herintredende vrouwen, OSA Research Memorandum pp. 94-94.
2.
Agassi, J.B. (1982) Comparing the Work Attitudes of Women and Men. Lexington, MA: Lexington .
3.
Benschop, Y. and Doorewaard, H. (1998) ‘Covered by Equality. The Gender Subtext of Organizations’ , Organization Studies19(5): 787–804 .
4.
Betz, M. and O’Connell, L. (1989) ‘Work Orientations of Males and Females: Exploring the Gender Socialization Approach’ , Sociological Inquiry59(3): 318–329 .
5.
Bielenski, H. (1998) ‘Work Options of the Future. Representative Survey in All 15 EU Member States and in Norway’. Infratest Burke Sozialforschung, Munich, report prepared for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, and the Royal Ministry of Labour and Government Administration, Norway.
6.
Chalude, M. and Smeets, J. (1988) Women Returning to Work and Vocational Training, (EUROTECHNET, No. 4). Bruxelles: Presses Interuniversitaires Europeennes, for the Commission of the European Communities and the European Centre for Work and Society .
7.
Crompton, R. and Harris, F. (1998) ‘Explaining Women’s Employment Patterns: Orientations to Work Revisited’ , British Journal of Sociology49(1): 118–136 .
8.
Derr, C.B. (1986) Managing the New Careerists. The Diverse Career Success Orientations of Today’s Workers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .
9.
Dubeck, P.J. and Borman, K. (eds) (1997) Women and Work: a Reader. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press .
10.
Edin, K. and Lein, L. (1997) Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation .
11.
Evans, C. (1996) ‘A Review of Career Anchors in Use’ , European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology5(4): 609–615 .
12.
Fagan, C. (2001) ‘Time, Money and the Gender Order: Work Orientations and Working-Time Preferences in Britain’ , Gender, Work and Organization8(3): 239–266 .
13.
Gallie, D., White, M., Chang, Y. and Tomlinson, M. (1998) Restructuring the Employment Relationship. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
14.
Goderie, M. and Nieborg, S. (1996) ‘Onderzoek in een Activerende Beleidscontext. Kennis over en Kennis voor Herintredende Vrouwen’ [Information about female returners, to be used in female returners policy making] , Sociale interventie5(2): 77–84 .
15.
Goldthorpe, J.H., Lockwood, D., Bechhofer, F. and Platt, J. (1968) The Affluent Worker: Industrial Attitudes and Behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
16.
Gornick, J.C., Meyers, M.K. and Ross, K.E. (1997) ‘Supporting the Employment of Mothers: Policy Variation across Fourteen Welfare states’ , Journal of European Social Policy7(1): 45–70 .
17.
Gornick, J.C., Meyers, M.K. and Ross, K.E. (1998) ‘Public Policies and the Employment of Mothers: A Cross-National Study’ , Social Science Quarterly79(1): 35–54 .
18.
Granrose, C.S. (1996) ‘Planning to Combine Work and Child-Rearing’, in P.J. Dubeck and K. Borman (eds) Women and Work: a Reader, pp. 401–444. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press .
19.
Greenwell, L., Leibowitz, A. and Klerman, J.A. (1998) ‘Welfare Background, Attitudes, and Employment Among New Mothers’ , Journal of Marriage and the Family: Quarterly Journal60(1): 175–194 .
20.
Hakim, C. (1996) Key Issues in Women’s Work: Female Heterogeneity and the Polarisation of Women’s Employment. London: Athlone Press .
21.
Hakim, C. (2000) Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century: Preference Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
22.
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. (1959) The Motivation to Work. New York: Wiley .
23.
Heymann, F. (1992) ‘Arbeidsorientatie voor Herintreedsters met een Lage Opleiding’ [Work orientations of female returners with lower education] , Tijdschrift voor Sociale Interventie1: 18–27 .
24.
Hochschild, A. R. (1997) The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. New York: Metropolitan Books .
25.
Lueptow, L.B. (1997) ‘Gender and Orientation toward Work’, in P.J. Dubeck and K. Borman (eds) Women and Work: a Reader, pp. 281–284. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press .
26.
Martin, J. and Roberts, C. (1984) Women and Unemployment: A Lifetime Perspective. London: HMSO .
27.
O’Brien, G. E. (1986) Psychology of Work and Unemployment. Chichester: Wiley .
28.
Penn, R., Rose M. and Rubery, J. (1994) Skill and Occupational Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
29.
Proctor, I. and Padfield, M. (1999) ‘Work Orientations and Women’s Work: A Critique of Hakim’s Theory of the Heterogeneity of Women’ , Gender Work and Organization6(3): 152–162 .
30.
Rose, M. (1988) ‘Attachment to Work and Social Values’, in D. Gallie (ed.) Employment in Britain, pp. 128–156. Oxford: Blackwell .
31.
Rose, M. (1994) ‘Skill and Samuel Smiles: Changing the British Work Ethic’, in R. Penn, M. Rose and J. Rubery (eds) Skill and Occupational Change, pp. 244–280. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
32.
Rose, M., Penn, R. and Rubery, J. (1994) ‘The SCELI Skill Findings’, in R. Penn, M. Rose and J. Rubery (eds) Skill and Occupational Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
33.
Rose, M. (2001) Closing Down a Work Career. Housework, Employment Plans, and Women’s Work Attitudes. ESRC: Working Paper 1: Transitions and Careers, University of Bath, March 2001. www.bath.ac.uk/hssmjr
34.
Rossi, A.S. (1964) ‘Women Re-entering the Work Force’ , Society: Social Science and Modern Society35(2): 11–15 .
35.
Schein, E. H. (1978) Career Dynamics: Matching Individual and Organizational Needs. Boston, MA: Addison Wesley .
36.
Sly, F., Thair, T. and Risdon, A. (1998) ‘Women in the Labour Market’ , Labour Market Trends106(3): 97–120 .
37.
Spain, D. and Bianchi, S.M. (1996) Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage, and Employment Among American Women. New York: Russell Sage .
38.
Turkenburg, M. C. M. (1995) Een Baan & een Kind[To have both a job and a child]. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press .
39.
Waddoups, C. J. (1997) ‘Female Labor Supply: Adoption and the Labor Force Participation Decision’ , American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 56(2): 243–254 .
40.
Walker, J. E., Tausky, C. and Oliver, D. O. (1982) ‘Men and Women at Work: Work Values within Occupational Groups’ , Journal of Vocational Behaviour21: 17–36 .
