Shalene Werth

Managerial attitudes: influences on workforce outcomes for working women with chronic illness

Individual managers may make judgements and decisions which reflect social expectations rather than organisational policy. Society generally requires that individuals with an illness take leave from their work, seek medical assistance and return when they are well. This is not possible for individuals with chronic illness. By its nature, chronic illness has no cure. Individuals who are diagnosed with diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease and who also undertake paid employment may need to disclose their illness and seek some form of accommodation in their workplace. Understanding attitudes of managers plays a significant role in the success of managing work and chronic illness. This article examines the working experiences of women with chronic illness where the attitudes of managers were less understanding.

Working with chronic illness: the modes of working

The ways that individuals manage their behaviours in the workplace have received increasing amounts of attention since Hochschild’s initial work on emotional labour. Since that time, aesthetic labour has been explored and varying forms of emotional labour or emotion work have been researched. Progressing this area of research into the working circumstances of individuals with chronic illness has unearthed three new modes of working which are based on similar principles to emotion work and aesthetic labour. These are called adaptive work, asymptomatic work and symptomatic work. Working with chronic illness is a unique experience and requires the use of skills beyond those normally utilised in the deployment of emotion/work or aesthetic labour. This paper will discuss on adaptive work, asymptomatic work and symptomatic work and relate them to the workforce experiences of women with chronic illness.

Disability and study: layers of management

Abstract The findings of this paper are based on a 3-year study of students registered with disability services at an Australian, regional university between 2008 and 2010. The concept of self-management, in its various dimensions, was a key theme emerging from the study. We argue that participants in our study employ ‘layers of self-management’ in the pursuit of success in their studies at university. The first layer is a ‘negotiation of self ’ in which students manage their sense of self-efficacy and their identity as students, and as individuals in a social setting. The second layer is their ‘management of self,’ which involves the way they appear to others, as well as the impact of impairments, work, and families. The third and final layer is their ‘management of others,’ which involves managing the perceptions of others, as well as interacting with others as part of managing institutional processes and procedures. As part of our analysis, we examine the relationship of these layers of self-management with concepts such as Lifelong Learning, which enable us to position participants on a traits and capacity continuum with other student groups.

Students with low entry scores succeed at university

Abstract University of Southern Queensland low entry score, first year Business students were more likely to pass MGT1000: Organisational Behaviour and Management than any other Bachelor of Business core course during the period 2003–2005. In this paper two of the academics teaching this course identify the two key teaching strategies that they contend contributed most to these results. The first of these strategies (scaffolding) was used to teach students strategies that they can use – for example, to analyse a case study or construct an argument within an essay. The teaching team speculate that scaffolding facilitated the students’ transition into the university as an academic milieu and thus enhanced their prospects for academic success in the course. The second teaching strategy presented in the paper involved the creation of the academic as a supportive social presence within the course (even for students studying at a distance) through the adoption of a particular, conversational kind of ‘voice’ in text based materials. The team assert that this facilitated students’ transition into the university as a social milieu and facilitated their subsequent retention and success within the course. Papers of this type have an increasing significance as the acceptance of students with low entry scores into university seems likely to continue. Universities need to create learning contexts which accommodate these students, without diluting academic standards. The paper is intended more as food for thought for other practitioners than as a simple recipe for teaching success.

Reflections and Conclusions

This book has drawn together research from a variety of fields within the diversity and work context. Key themes relate to the roles of employers and unions in order to continue to advance the interests of these groups of workers as workplaces endeavour to become more inclusive. The influence of power structures and existing workplace culture has been shown to be critical in the integration of diversity groups.

Introducing Concepts of Workforce Diversity

The introduction to the book highlights the challenges relating to identity and stigma which are faced by a broad range of diversity groups in the workplace, specifically those relating to various types of disability, youth and ageing workers, gender and migrant work. The book also examines the influence of unions and acting collectively has had on the workforce outcomes of diversity groups generally.

Issues of Power and Disclosure for Women with Chronic Illness in Their Places of Work

The disclosure decisions of women with chronic illness at work are influenced by a number of factors including: stigma, available flexibilities and the individual’s power within their workplace. The topic of power as it relates to women with chronic illness is largely unexplored. This research found that disclosure provides the key to accessing power for these employees. Power combined with resource dependency theory (RDT) helps to explain the importance of having the skills and knowledge, or access to other sources of power such as union membership, in order for these women to obtain the accommodations that they need for their illness.

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Emotion Work in the Workplace

Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are vulnerable in the workplace due to the stigma associated with their condition. Negative attitudes of colleagues can compound misunderstandings of the identity of the individual related to their condition; thus, there are risks associated with revealing such a condition. Employees with stigmatised identities perform emotion work in order to cover any difficulties or symptoms that they experience so that they might be considered to be workers with “normal” identities in the workplace. This chapter examines the influences of identity and factors which impact the apparent identity of workers with ASD, and these include stigma management, peer support and level of disability and required supports.

The Changing Nature of Educational Support for Students with Disabilities

Adaptation to a higher education environment is an experience with which students with disabilities may require assistance. The transition from university to the workforce may also be difficult for these students (Gillies, 2012). Traditionally, the supports available for students with disabilities have consisted mainly of physical adaptations. Students with obvious disabilities, such as paraplegia or visual impairment, were among those who were first granted assistance and whose disabilities were first understood in the university environment. The learning environment within universities today has evolved to accommodate a varying range of visible and invisible disabilities (Werth, 2012). The responsibility for facilitating such an inclusive setting falls to student services departments, whose staff members negotiate accommodations and implement legal obligations within the university. The range of disabilities with which students arrive now requires a variety of responses that include changes to assessment, assistance with notetaking in lectures and the necessary advocacy to achieve these developments. While vital, these more common forms of support leave a gap in relation to the transition of students from a support framework to one of self-support, especially within a work environment.