- Women perform most invisible labor
- Emotional labor: Women’s significant burden
- Rarely acknowledged or rewarded
Women carry out the majority of invisible workplace responsibilities. The labour is arduous and lacks remuneration.
Unmentioned labour is occurring in workplaces around the globe, with most of it being performed by women.
Emotional labour is the tedious and frequently invisible task of regulating the emotions of others. “Economies are not driven solely by labour,” explains Rose Hackman, author of a book due out in 2020 on the subject. “Work is what sustains communities and families.” Emotional labour involves the strategic manipulation of the heart to influence patients, clients, consumers, or passengers. It instils an organisation with a sense of security, belonging, significance, and purpose.
It is vital, yet it is also laborious and frequently mandatory. Women experience the most significant burden. To commence, they predominate in occupations that require an immense amount of emotional labour. However, specific tasks are necessary in every workplace, particularly those that are male-dominated; women are the ones performing the laborious work, often without recognition or compensation.
From a young age
Professions that require significant emotional labour, such as nursing, teaching, caregiving, social work, and hospitality, are typically dominated by women. Although women are commonly believed to be “well-suited” for these positions, Hackman argues that this perception is merely the product of socialisation.
She asserts that girls and women have been expected to possess every characteristic, ability, and function associated with emotional labour since an early age. Girls who do not conform to the agonising instruction of being other-centred are subject to police scrutiny.
E. Michele Ramsey, an associate professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Penn State Berks, US, concurs that this type of training is pervasive. It relates to the sorts of games in which we are typically socialised: young girls engage in doll play; teachers and nurses also play. Boy’s activities are considerably more active and less nurturing.
She further states that additional early childhood influences amplify the effect. This has improved slightly, but who is the nurse in the television programme or the book you read as a child? Who is the instructor? Who are the firefighter and the scientist? They are frequently highly gendered, which inherently restricts children’s perception of their options.
However, characteristics such as empathy and compassion are not inherently gendered, and empirical evidence suggests that the brains of men and women are not fundamentally dissimilar. Research from various academic fields demonstrates that empathy is a capacity shared by all humans, irrespective of gender, according to Hackman. However, it has become so closely associated with the feminine gender that the training is overlooked; rather, it is perceived as an inherent characteristic of girls and women.
Ramsey claims that internalised basic training frequently influences women’s decisions to pursue occupations that demand significant emotional labour.
She states that the fact that more women assume these nurturing duties should not come as a surprise. Individuals who are marginalised must improve their non-verbal communication skills and their ability to interpret signals because they are perpetually on guard to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes and saying the incorrect thing about their oppression. This entails incorporating nurturing practices into every play activity and interaction. Therefore, it is not unexpected that individuals who identify as female pursue careers in that field.
Beyond “women’s careers”
Emotional labour is not limited to service and caregiving positions; it is a requirement in every workplace to some degree. The majority of responsibilities associated with organising events such as parties, service days, and team-building exercises, as well as fostering connections and community development, are carried out by women in mixed-gender work environments. Research indicates that a significantly more significant proportion of “office housework”—responsibilities linked to “low promotability”—is performed by women.
Concurrently, this arduous labour is rarely commended or regarded as exceptional, and it does not contribute to the advancement of women. However, they need to do so to avoid being left behind.
According to Hackman, many women who enter formerly male-dominated workplaces discover that they are expected to perform an additional shift of emotional labour simply by their gender. According to research, “extra shift” work is essential for women to advance, particularly in white-collar workplaces. According to a study published in the journal Human Resource Management, advancement for men was contingent upon their job performance and public image; however, “prosocial orientation” was also indispensable for women.
According to Hackman, for a male engineer to advance in an engineering firm, he must possess confidence and competence. To advance in her field, a female engineer must possess the qualities above and demonstrate kindness, reassurance, and teamwork.
In other words, women must possess confidence, competence, compassion, and thoughtfulness. Ironically, although women will only catch up if they put in the additional effort, it does little to aid their ascent to the summit. Ramsey claims that all the additional tasks women perform at work, such as organising events, raising funds for causes, and commemorating special occasions, are considered insignificant contributions. Organisation and multitasking are essential; such labour requires well-developed skill sets. When the time arrives, however, to be promoted, none of that effort is considered.
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In fact, according to a 2022 study from the psychology department at New York University Abu Dhabi, prosocial behaviour can hinder the advancement of women to leadership positions by “depriving powerful women of time and resources without equitable rewards and making it difficult for women to legitimise their power,” even though it may improve employee well-being.
In addition to potentially impeding progress, engaging in additional labour entails a personal cost. “The toll is enormous,” Hackman declares. “To begin with, these activities consume time: communicating with colleagues, fostering team spirit, projecting a positive image, composing emails, engaging in discussions over watercoolers, etc. “Everything consumes your time.”
The compensation concern
Not only are women who refuse to perform additional emotional labour penalised, but analyses of the gender wage disparity frequently indicate that professions dominated by women also pay lower wages overall.
