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Women in Procrustean Beds: Strength Testing and the Workplace
Author(s) -
Messing Karen,
Stevenson Joan
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.1996.tb00056.x
Subject(s) - constructive , set (abstract data type) , task (project management) , perspective (graphical) , personnel selection , job performance , selection (genetic algorithm) , psychology , work (physics) , computer science , applied psychology , social psychology , artificial intelligence , engineering , management , job satisfaction , economics , mechanical engineering , process (computing) , programming language , operating system
Pre‐employment strength testing in its present form supports employment practices which exclude women from manual handling tasks traditionally assigned to men. However, several lines of reasoning lead us to think that pre‐employment testing is a Procrustean bed which imposes unreasonable requirements on most women. Examination of some tests and their scientific underpinnings leads us to conclude that they may result in discrimination. Women often approach manual tasks in ways different from men, so that pre‐employment tests developed around the ways men usually perform these tasks are poor predictors of women's performance at real‐life jobs. We also question the fact that pre‐employment testing involves the types of requirements imposed in men's traditional work, but not women's. This perspective leads us to propose a less rigid notion of physical strength and to introduce the concept of human‐task interaction. Representations of human capacity based on sexual stereotypes may conceal health and safety problems in job requirements which should be addressed directly, leading to more constructive propositions regarding job design and employee selection. We propose that standards be set for job requirements, such that all manual handling jobs become physically accessible to at least 75% of all workers.