Work–family conflict and the commodification of women's employment in three Chinese airlines

Abstract

In the East, where gender is mediated by different family structures, societal institutions and economic development, the work-family conflict (WFC) metaphor remains appropriate. This paper investigates Chinese women"s experiences of WFC in the fastest growing commercial airline sector in the world. It finds that, in contrast to the West, work-to-family, rather than family-to-work, conflict dominates. Liberal-ization, competition and commercialization have also had a significant gendered impact on jobs. The latter resulting in the commodification of women"s aesthetic and emotional labour, job segregation, employment insecurity, poor career opportunities and increased WFC. We explore reasons why HR policies and practices in airlines fail to address women"s workplace concerns and find that occupational status and lack of organizational power, together with the prevalence of traditional gendered norms and attitudes, play important roles

Reasons behind current gender imbalances in senior global health roles and the practice and policy changes that can catalyze organizational change

“…Examples include Predictable Time Off (which was not connected to HR) and Results-Only Work Environment, which asked departmental work teams to critically reflect on the traditional model of work and identify new effective ways of working together that focused on outcomes [ 29 ]. Collective efforts to integrate work and family can overcome the flexibility stigma attached to individual accommodations and the powerlessness experienced by many of women at work [ 93 ].…”

Migration: A means to create work–life balance?

“…They argue these reforms have resulted in both female redundancy and the forced withdrawal from employment due to reductions in state and private-sector childcare funding. In addition, Foster and Ren (2015) link work intensification to these economic reforms. They argue this intensification has caused work–life conflict for working women who also remain responsible for the majority of housework, even among dual-earner couples.…”

Exploiting women’s aesthetic labour to fly high in the Chinese airline Industry

“…While embracing commercialisation and internationalisation, the Chinese airline industry is subject to fierce competition resulting from an unstable global economy, high fuel prices, new competitors globally and passengers increasingly demanding to be treated as individuals (Ren and Foster, 2011; Taylor and Tyler, 2000). In an effort to gain competitive advantage, Chinese airlines have adopted some of the most retrogressive gendered employment practices with which many Western counterparts have been associated historically (Foster and Ren, 2015). For decades, Western airlines hired only young, attractive, unmarried white women who were fabulous and charming and provided comfort to passengers (Barry, 2007).…”

“…Stewarding involved both sensory engagement and social interaction, and such visual and aural displays were crucial in the performance of aesthetic labour (Warhurst and Nickson, 2007). Nevertheless, over time, societal norms in the West have challenged gender stereotypes in airlines, and carriers such as British Airways have responded by placing a greater emphasis on maturity and experience in the service encounter (Foster and Ren, 2015). Western airlines have altered the criteria for selecting and recruiting flight attendants, who should now be acknowledged safety experts instead of beautiful stewards (Williams, 2003).…”

“…Contrasting domestic flight operations in China with airlines in the West, we find that the product and value concept is still much higher in China, with a greater dedication to offering high quality services through young and beautiful cabin crews across short haul routes (Miller, 2012). The Chinese airline industry has evolved from being under state military control to occupying a buoyant position in the commercial sector (Foster and Ren, 2015) and, therefore, usefully highlights the interrelationship between commercialisation and gendered processes in employment.…”