Dissertation Summary
My dissertation is an ethnographic investigation of how the meanings, processes and politics of interpersonal trust come to be gendered within four distinct male-dominated work spaces. Using data collected from ethnographic observations, company documents and 120 in-depth interviews with workers at a marketing firm, a restaurant, a tech consulting startup and a ride-hail circuit, I seek to answer two overarching research questions. First, I ask how trust comes to be gendered as it is collectively constituted within local work contexts, looking specifically at how people work together to actively and creatively construct, negotiate and perform various forms of trust. I then explore the role of trust in peoples’ perceptions of work situations and relationships, interrogating how different renderings of trust reproduce and/or challenge gender privilege and disadvantage. In the face of eroding bureaucratic work structures, this study illuminates how trust informally organizes contemporary work experiences and contributes to the persistence of gender inequality in the new economy. This research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Bankard Fund for Political Economy.
Other research
In a paper under review, I use regression analyses to determine whether working mothers’ adherence to cultural schemas of work and family affect the use of “middle-ground” balance strategies such as outsourcing domestic duties or modifying one’s work schedule. I find that cultural schemas do influence the strategies of working mothers, yet this relationship is mediated by women’s income and moderated by the presence or absence of a spouse or partner.
With Allison Pugh, I am researching how people frame arguments against overwork in mainstream newspapers, progressive news magazines and on Twitter. Overall, we find a dearth of social critique in the mainstream press and on social media, while progressive news magazines offer a unique and potentially powerful frame for challenging current work practices.
I am also investigating how elite service professionals account for “downtime” within highly competitive cultures that demand long hours and unmediated dedication. I recently completed—and am currently analyzing—65 in-depth interviews with professionals in finance, consulting, tech, advertising and law as part of this project.
With Elizabeth Gorman and Joris Gjata, I am examining the political contestation around the accounting profession's transition from self-regulation to state regulation. Through an analysis of the legislative hearings associated with the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, we identify the positions of key stakeholders, including accounting professionals, lawyers, corporate clients and public investors.
My dissertation is an ethnographic investigation of how the meanings, processes and politics of interpersonal trust come to be gendered within four distinct male-dominated work spaces. Using data collected from ethnographic observations, company documents and 120 in-depth interviews with workers at a marketing firm, a restaurant, a tech consulting startup and a ride-hail circuit, I seek to answer two overarching research questions. First, I ask how trust comes to be gendered as it is collectively constituted within local work contexts, looking specifically at how people work together to actively and creatively construct, negotiate and perform various forms of trust. I then explore the role of trust in peoples’ perceptions of work situations and relationships, interrogating how different renderings of trust reproduce and/or challenge gender privilege and disadvantage. In the face of eroding bureaucratic work structures, this study illuminates how trust informally organizes contemporary work experiences and contributes to the persistence of gender inequality in the new economy. This research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Bankard Fund for Political Economy.
Other research
In a paper under review, I use regression analyses to determine whether working mothers’ adherence to cultural schemas of work and family affect the use of “middle-ground” balance strategies such as outsourcing domestic duties or modifying one’s work schedule. I find that cultural schemas do influence the strategies of working mothers, yet this relationship is mediated by women’s income and moderated by the presence or absence of a spouse or partner.
With Allison Pugh, I am researching how people frame arguments against overwork in mainstream newspapers, progressive news magazines and on Twitter. Overall, we find a dearth of social critique in the mainstream press and on social media, while progressive news magazines offer a unique and potentially powerful frame for challenging current work practices.
I am also investigating how elite service professionals account for “downtime” within highly competitive cultures that demand long hours and unmediated dedication. I recently completed—and am currently analyzing—65 in-depth interviews with professionals in finance, consulting, tech, advertising and law as part of this project.
With Elizabeth Gorman and Joris Gjata, I am examining the political contestation around the accounting profession's transition from self-regulation to state regulation. Through an analysis of the legislative hearings associated with the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, we identify the positions of key stakeholders, including accounting professionals, lawyers, corporate clients and public investors.