Arlie Hochschild’s theory of emotional labor (1983) has become a staple framework for understanding the tension that exists between outward emotional expression and inward emotional realities. In it, Hoschild (1983) introduces us to the idea of emotional management, the expectations that are put on us to manipulate the display of our emotions—act—in order to put the experiences of others first. Recently, however, several articles in popular media have used emotional labor to describe labor that deviates from Hochschild’s (1983) original definition. In doing so, popular discourse has highlighted a kind of labor that has historically gone unnamed in the academy. The implications of not naming this other form of labor and instead morphing Hochschild’s original definition yield many consequences if left unchecked. The purpose of this article is to step into the conversation on emotional labor, highlight the gap in language to describe the various types of labor performed by adult learners, and introduce the idea of gendered labor as a way to be better informed in serving adult learners in ongoing development.
BieremaL.CallahanJ. (2014). Transforming HRD: A framework for critical HRD practice. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 16(4), 429–444.
3.
BrossardD. (2013). New media landscapes and the science information consumer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(Supp 3), 14096–14101.
4.
DirkxJ.M. (2016). Making sense of feelings and emotions in adult learning. In FedeliM.ZaggiaC. (Eds.), Engage to learn: Participative methods and techniques to teach adults. Lecce, Italia: Casa Editrice Pensa Multimedia.
5.
DirkxJ.EspinozaB. D. (2017). From cognition to the imaginal: Fostering self-understanding from and through emotions in adult learning. Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2017/papers/26.
EvansL.MooreW. L. (2015). Impossible burdens: White institutions, emotional labor, and micro-resistance. Social Problems, 62(3), 439–454.
8.
GolemanD. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam.
9.
GolemanD. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.
10.
GonzalesL. D.AyersD. (2018). The convergence of institutional logics and the normalization of emotional labor: A new theoretical approach for considering the expectations and experiences of community college faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 41(3), 1–30.
11.
GrandeyA. A. (2000). Emotion regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 95–110.
HarlowR. (2003). “Race doesn’t matter, but:” The effect of race on professors’ experiences and emotion management in the undergraduate college classroom. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(4), 348–363.
HochschildA. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press.
18.
HochschildA. R. (2012). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press.
19.
HoffmanA.AshworthK.DwelleC.GoldbergP.HendersonA.MerlinL.WilsonS. (2015). Academic engagement in public and political discourse: Proceedings of the Michigan meeting. Michigan Publishing.
20.
HoffmanA. J. (2016). Reflections: Academia’s emerging crisis of relevance and the consequent role of the engaged scholar. Journal of Change Management, 16(2), 77–96.
LeeM.Johnson-BaileyJ. (2004). Challenges to the classroom authority of women of color. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2004(102), 55–64.
24.
ManglitzE.GuyT. C.MerriweatherL. R. (2014). Knowledge and emotions in cross-racial dialogues. Adult Learning, 25(3), 111–118.
NussbaumM. (2001). Upheavals of thought: The intelligence of emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27.
PerryG.MooreH.EdwardsC.AcostaK.FreyC. (2009). Maintaining credibility and authority as an instructor of color in diversity-education classrooms: A qualitative inquiry. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 80–105.
28.
SchuethsA. M.GladneyT.CrawfordD. M.BassK. L.MooreH. A. (2013). Passionate pedagogy and emotional labor: students' responses to learning diversity from diverse instructors. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(10), 1259-1276.
TunguzS. (2014). In the eye of the beholder: Emotional labor in academia varies with tenure and gender. Studies in Higher Education, 41(1), 1–18.
32.
TurnbullS. (2004). Emotions in organizational learning: Implications for HRD. Paper presented at the Academy of Human Resource Development International Conference (AHRD) (Austin, TX, March3-7, 2004) pp. 1087-1094(Symp. 50-1).
33.
WingfieldA. H. (2010). Are some emotions marked “whites only?” Racialized feeling rules in professional workplaces. Social Problems, 57(2), 251–268.
34.
ZhangQ.ZhuW. (2008). Exploring emotion in teaching: Emotional labor, burnout, and satisfaction in Chinese higher education. Communication Education, 57(1), 105–122.
