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A female ghetto? Women's careers in call centres
Author(s) -
Belt Vicki
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
human resource management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.44
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1748-8583
pISSN - 0954-5395
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2002.tb00077.x
Subject(s) - workforce , call centre , position (finance) , work (physics) , job satisfaction , perception , public relations , sociology , labour economics , political science , demographic economics , psychology , business , social psychology , economics , engineering , law , mechanical engineering , finance , neuroscience
Although several studies have shown that women make up the majority of the call centre workforce, their role and position in this new and expanding industry has not yet been examined. This article makes a contribution to the research gap by exploring the extent and nature of the career opportunities open to women within call centres. Current portrayals of call centre work appear to indicate that these new workplaces offer very little in the way of either job satisfaction or potential for career progression. Indeed, on the basis of existing research evidence it could be concluded that call centres represent little more than female job ‘ghettos’. The article assesses this claim by drawing on women's own accounts of their work experiences and their perceptions of their prospects.