Understanding Culture and Women's Work

My dissertation examines the relationship between culture and women's decisions regarding work. Drawing from the fields of Austrian economics and economic sociology, I examine the role of informal norms, customs, and traditions in shaping economic behavior. And to accomplish this, I rely on both quantitative and qualitative methods, examining empirical evidence, historical archives, ethnographic collections, surveys, and interviews. The discourse surrounding women’s participation in the workforce has evolved from merely economic considerations to a multifaceted exploration of cultural norms, social dynamics, and institutional structures. This transformation reflects a growing recognition of the interplay between culture, social change, and women’s work. Understanding the relationship between culture and social change is essential for understanding the drivers of gender disparities in the labor market. It also reveals the strengths and weaknesses of various policies and interventions aimed at promoting gender equality. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, I aim to identify the mechanisms through which cultural norms, beliefs, and practices influence women’s decisions regarding work, while simultaneously exploring how changes in women’s work shape broader cultural shifts. The opening chapter explores the question: How do we achieve lasting social change? Lasting change is often observed after cultural shifts, technological change, and formal legislation is passed, but how these factors work together, or in opposition, of change is harder to disentangle. Are top-down efforts necessary to shake up the status quo, or must culture and norms drive change from the bottom-up? This chapter explores these questions by attempting to understand the top-down government efforts to advance women’s liberation in Cuba between 1960 and 1980. The second chapter shifts the focus to contemporary society and examines the emergence of social media influencing. It explores the role of influence in society over time, how influencers are entrepreneurs and their role in the competitive market process and analyzes why women have been able to dominate this modern market. We argue that the flexibility and remote nature of social media give women (1) more options than traditional jobs, by lowering the cost of entry and sustainability of careers, as well as (2) more options for building community. The third chapter examines the role that language plays in shaping culture, social norms, and social change over time. Given the role of language in influencing and being influenced by the social world, it can be a powerful tool for bottom-up social change. Specifically, this chapter explores how language influences views on gender, gender norms, labor participation, and occupational sorting.

Author

• Carges, Jessica

• Cuba
• culture
• language
• social change
• social media influencer
• women's work

Identifier

hdl:1920/13872

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/13872