Technical Change and the Un/Troubling of Gendered Ageing in Healthcare Work

Abstract

Whilst recent years have seen increasing pressure to extend the participation of older people in the labour market, it is clear that there remain significant challenges in achieving this and that these take specifically gendered forms. This paper explores if and how these might be shaped in intraaction with the rapid pace of technological change linked to the pervasive spread of digital technologies in the workplace. We take our theoretical lead from critical gerontology, feminist accounts of inter-sectionality and Science & Technology Studies, which together insist on an anti-essentialist and performative account of gendered ageing that focuses on everyday practices and the conditions that shape these in particular spaces, places and times. Our empirical focus is on healthcare work, where we find that gendered ageing appears in more or less troubled relations to the increasingly technological practices of medicine and nursing. We conclude with a discussion exploring the implications of our theoretical perspective and empirical findings.

Sick Leave—A Signal of Unequal Work Organizations? Gender perspectives on work environment and work organizations in the health care sector: a knowledge review

“…Health care research with gendercritical perspectives on the international agenda has during the last years highlighted issues such as gender, technology, and ageing in health care but also gender differences in health care staff's emotional work (Husso and Hirvonen 2012) as well as physical, psychosocial stressors and burnout (Piko 2006). Halford et al (2015) discuss middle management in the health care sector and how this group tackles ageing staff and new technologies at work. Conclusions here are that there are ongoing interactions between dimensions such as gender, age, and technology, and that these consequently cannot be seen as separate tracks (Halford et al 2015).…”

“…Conclusions here are that there are ongoing interactions between dimensions such as gender, age, and technology, and that these consequently cannot be seen as separate tracks (Halford et al 2015). In practice this meant that the managers did try to be flexible and adjust the older nurses' work situation, for example, when it came to scheduling work shifts (Halford et al 2015). Another aspect of gender, technology, and care work is the rapid development of technology and its role in care giving.…”

“…Halford et al (2015) discuss middle management in the health care sector and how this group tackles ageing staff and new technologies at work. Conclusions here are that there are ongoing interactions between dimensions such as gender, age, and technology, and that these consequently cannot be seen as separate tracks (Halford et al 2015). In practice this meant that the managers did try to be flexible and adjust the older nurses' work situation, for example, when it came to scheduling work shifts (Halford et al 2015).…”

No place for old women: a critical inquiry into age in later working life

“…These two change processes are intertwined: the modern hospital is characterised by its high density of technology where patients are connected to instruments of different kinds, and carers are occupied with analysing and communicating information flows in the computer systems. The carers here include the younger generation who grew up with keyboards and World Wide Web and handles the digital workspace swiftly, but also those with a long career in health care before the age of digitisation who presumably struggle a bit more (Halford et al 2015; Lotherington and Obstfelder 2014). The latter group of doctors and nurses have seen dramatic transformations to their working lives.…”

“Regardless of Age”: Australian University Managers’ Attitudes and Practices Towards Older Academics

“…New technologies, processes of labor and organizational forms are reshaping the nature of work and demanding flexible labor forces (Autor, 2015;Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014;Dropkin et al, 2016;Halford et al, 2015). At broader levels, the world of work is being reconfigured in response to global workforce competition and flexible organizations are restructuring the nature of work to accelerate productivity.…”