"When crafting phenomenological research, we need to slow down in this way. It is not as though we will not have deadlines, or that the actual time and timelines will change. It is how we experience our patient crafting over this time." 

- Mark Vagle, Crafting Phenomenological Research (2018)

What is social reproduction?

Under the current system of late-stage capitalism, care work can be understood as “social reproduction” or the everyday tasks necessary to sustain life (i.e., feeding, sleeping, shopping, nurturing, mending, cleaning, chaperoning), disproportionately affects women (and especially women of color) (Hester, 2018). Gendered care work has been the subject of much critique; scholars such as Silvia Federici and her "Wages Against Housework" campaign recognized the ways in which capitalism conveniently dismisses care work as labor to be compensated. Such social reproduction activities relate to Arlie Hochschild's (1989) “the second shift,” where women leave one shift (at their site of their employment where they are compensated with waged labor) to their second shift (at home) where they provide private, uncompensated labor. Both neoliberal trends and the patriarchy facilitate two forms of simultaneous labor exploitation. 

Concerning neoliberal trends, while social services are dismantled and underfunded, uncompensated but necessary care work is forced to be provided by individuals in the private home (Calarco, 2020) by the nuclear family. More specifically, care work is provided primarily by women because of socialized gender norms under the patriarchy (Ferrant, 2014). The compounded effect of care work, or social reproduction, performed privately in the home results in gendered labor exploitation which disproportionately impacts women.

Problem Statement

Both higher education institutions (HEIs) and the home are sites of reproduction. Higher Education Institutions “(re)produce” critically thinking, democratically aware, skill-based laborers who upon their graduation and certification populate the workforce. Simultaneously, the home is where “activities that nurture future workers, regenerate the current workforce, and maintain those who cannot work—that is, the set of tasks that together maintain and reproduce life, both daily and generationally” occur (Hester, 2018, p. 345). Although women employed by HEIs receive some wages for one form of labor by their employers, they are uncompensated—and are thus exploited—by their second shift of reproductive labor at home. 

Even though “non-education” higher education staff constitute over half of academe’s employees (57%), this population is not proportionately represented in higher education studies compared to research concerning faculty (NCES, n.d.). Prior to COVID-19’s exacerbation of labor issues, scholars have called for more research across the spectrum of workers in higher education. Specifically, Sallee (2021) suggested that future studies investigate “how various populations—further delineated by demographic group and employee level—are impacted by ideal worker norms. Explicitly understanding how these norms operate will help dismantle them” (p. 305). First introduced by Joan Williams (2000), the ideal worker is the model employee willing to dedicate herself entirely to her job, absent of any personal distractions. She is completely devoted and loyal to her work and is therefore prone to exploitation. 

Similarly, Kezar et al. (2019) examined the many ways in which neoliberalism and academic capitalism since the 1970s have impacted higher education workers. The authors reported: 

In the Gig Academy, a growing proportion of faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff have quite similar poor working conditions: subsistence wages; lack of benefits, retirement funds, and vacation time; no influence over conditions of work or structures of advancement; and constant anxiety over the possibility of arbitrary termination. These 5 trends impact all institutional types, but they are often more drastic at public institutions and poorly resourced institutions such as community colleges. (2019, p. 36-7) 

The authors went on to suggest, “We hope that increased clarity around Gig Academy trends will inspire action among faculty and staff to combat these trends and collectively hold administrators accountable for decisions that undermine student learning and institutional missions” (Kezar et al., 2019, p. 145-6). The call for increased clarity can be answered with additional scholarship to enhance both workers’ and their employers’ understanding of neoliberalism’s impact on higher education labor exploitation. 

1. I, first, identified a post-intentional phenomenon in context(s), around a social issue (i.e., gendered labor exploitation). The identification of this phenomenon was the result of not only my own experiences as a woman staff member working in higher education but also from my observations and conversations with other women staff members across a number of HEIs. A review of the literature revealed a timely gap.

2. & 3. I devised a clear yet flexible process for producing phenomenological material and made a post-reflexion plan. Ultimately, I produced phenomenological material from four sources: a series of semi-structured conversations with 11 participants, participant-generated daily schedules (via reflective activity), a collection of participant job descriptions, and my bridling journal. Practicing post-reflexivity involved journaling and crafting initial and post- post-reflexion statements.

4. As I explored the post-intentional phenomenon using Social Reproduction Theory (SRT), I engaged the phenomenological materials by 1) deconstructing the wholes of the materials via careful line-by-line readings, 2) “thinking with theory” (Jackson & Mazzei, 2012), and 3) analyzing my post-reflexions. Utilizing Google’s digital Jamboards, I organized phenomenological materials into, first, Participant Venn Diagrams and synthesized said diagrams into, second, Participant Profiles. In familiarizing myself with the phenomenological materials produced, I eventually identified both “productions” and “provocations” that could produce social change concerning the phenomenon of interest. 

5. Ultimately, this dissertation was presented as text that engages said productions and provocations of gendered labor exploitation within two separate but related sites: the home and R1 higher education institutions (HEI).

Read more about each individual production and provocation identified in the published dissertation, accessible by clicking on the link in the above Resources list.

Future Research Opportunities. 

This is just the beginning. Findings from this study reveal a plethora of opportunities to continue this important and timely research. If you are interested in picking up the torch individually or are interested in collaborating, please do outreach by emailing me (link below). 

• Various Staff Populations

  • Student affairs (coordinators, assistant directors, associate directors, directors)

  • Administrative assistant supervisors

  • Middle managers (& their supervisors)

  • Cross-comparative divisions (academic affairs; student affairs; business operations)

• Various family formations

  • Queer couples

  • Singles

  • Single parents

  • Those engaged in eldercare 

• Various Institution Types

  • Liberal arts institutions

  • Community colleges

  • HBCUs, HSIs, Tribal Colleges