1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« First the dissertation responds to the paucity of empirical studies on the impact of employment on women, by presenting and analyzing the results of a survey [...] conducted in 1999 among employed and non-employed women in Mexico City. [...] The data gathered from this survey allow for the statistical testing of a number of hypotheses concerning there relationship between women’s employment and the different dimensions of women’s status. Second,
the dissertation proposes a way of defining status that draws upon the insights of both the integration and marginalization perspectives, and incorporates the citizenship literature. » (p. 5)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« Multiple sources of information are used throughout the dissertation. The principal source of data is the survey of Mexico City women conducted jointly by myself and the Mexican daily newspaper, Reforma. This survey, which was conducted in May 1999, interviewed 519 women, 18 years and older. [...] Respondents were asked to answer a series of questions covering basic demographic information, their extra-domestic work (if applicable), their domestic work, household decisions, politics, and their opinions on a number of different subjects. [...] Additional sources of information come from both international and Mexican organizations that gather relevant statistics. International organizations such as the World Bank in its annually published Development Reports, provide information on subjects such as fertility levels and the female labour force. [...] The majority of data [...] come from the many publications of the Mexican National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Computer Science (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI)). » (pp. 73-75)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu et analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« The sudden and steady increase in the involvement of women in the Mexican labour force beginning in the 1980s, signifies a major shift in gender roles and activities. It is a little studied outcome of Mexico’s combination of economic crisis (which served to increase the supply of female labour) and subsequent adoption of neoliberal economic policies (which stimulated the demand for female labour). In fact, what is not known, are the implications of this employment for the Mexican women themselves. The dissertation moves beyond the existing literature on the gendered consequences of employment and economic development, by bringing in the citizenship literature to help define women’s status. Specifically, the dissertation proposes a way of determining these consequences by examining three dimensions of women’s status, two of which refer to women’s roles and capabilities in the public sphere - political and economic - and one which refers to women’s status in the private sphere - the household. By disaggregating the status variable, the dissertation highlights the significant improvements in women’s status while identifying the remaining obstacles to gender equality. The dissertation develops a number of measures of women’s multidimensional status, and assesses the differences between employed and non-employed women using data obtained from a survey of women in Mexico City. In the economic sphere, the findings indicate that employment improves women’s status by enhancing women’s independence. Employment provides women with the economic resources that enable them to lessen their dependence on men. At the same time, women continue to face inequality in the labour market, signifying the continuing subordination of women. In terms of women’s household status, the findings show that women retain the primary responsibility for childcare, and for the maintenance of the home. This inequality is significant, and serves to limit further improvements in women’s status in the economic and political realm, and indeed, in the household. Employment is however, shown to enhance women’s decision-making power in the home, particularly with respect to women’s participation in household budgetary decisions. Finally, employment is shown to improve women’s political status. Employment is associated with higher levels of political interest, greater frequency of political discussion, and greater participation in political activities. » (résumé)