Search Results (22)

Workplace weight stigma is a form of discrimination affecting equality, health, and careers, yet occupational research remains fragmented. This gender-sensitive systematic review synthesizes evidence on workplace weight stigma among adult workers and job applicants since 2000. Following PRISMA procedures, we searched psychological, medical, sociological, and economic databases, identifying 25 included studies examining work outcomes. The corpus includes experimental vignette and correspondence studies, surveys, and qualitative designs, predominantly from high-income Western countries. Higher body weight is consistently associated with disadvantages across the employment life cycle: reduced callbacks and hiring, lower wages and wage growth, fewer promotions, and negative performance evaluations. Penalties are systematically stronger for women; intersectional analyses remain rare. Weight-based teasing, unfair treatment, and stereotype threat are linked to poorer self-rated health, psychological distress, burnout, reduced work ability, lower job satisfaction and commitment, and stronger turnover intentions. Organizational-level evidence is indirect but suggests detrimental effects on engagement and citizenship behaviors. Findings support conceptualizing workplace weight stigma as both a psychosocial hazard and a structural driver of labor-market inequality, underscoring the need for size-inclusive HR practices, leadership, and occupational risk-prevention policies. Full article

This study examines how organizational models are evolving beyond post-Fordism in the context of digitalization, platformization, and new forms of labor governance. Using a bibliometric analysis of 1573 Web of Science publications, the article maps the intellectual genealogy, disciplinary foundations, and global collaborative patterns of research on the platform economy. The field has consolidated around three core concepts—platform economy, gig economy, and sharing economy—anchored in clusters focused on business models, labor precarity, and regulatory and governance debates. The analysis reveals a temporal shift from early narratives centered on sharing and collaborative consumption to contemporary concerns with algorithmic management, precarious work, and worker resistance. Parallel discussions of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 expose tensions between human-centered aspirations and the continued expansion of platform capitalism. The global landscape shows both vitality and asymmetry: China leads in empirical output, while the USA and England dominate theoretical agenda-setting and international collaboration. Overall, the findings demonstrate that platform research constitutes a mature, interdisciplinary field bridging labor sociology and management studies. The study calls for stronger integration of Global South perspectives and further examination of whether human-centered organizational visions can meaningfully counteract the structural inequalities embedded in platform-mediated work. Full article

The influence of sex and gender on health is a relevant topic in both social research and health studies. However, the complexity of considering sex and gender jointly with multiple dimensions of the social structure (labor market, violence, traditions and culture, health system, etc.) requires an analytical framework. The present study employs the gender regime as a theoretical framework for health studies. It primarily draws upon the theoretical contributions of Walby and Connell, engaging with the challenges encountered in theoretical, methodological and empirical debates. Despite the diverse roots of these two perspectives, broadly utilizing the gender regime is promising for research. The health evidence demonstrates the potential of this framework to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the distinct characteristics, experiences and resources that are specific to men and women. Studies of pain and illness also illustrate the contribution of the gender regime for both science and public policy related to health and well-being. A multi-level framework for health and pain has been developed using a sociological interpretive synthesis and a critical review. The present study puts forward a model and classification of components with an application to human health in which the gender regime is significant. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and intensified structural tensions surrounding work−life balance, precarity, and gender inequalities in academia. This paper examines the spatial, temporal, and emotional disruptions experienced by early-career and precarious researchers in Italy during the first national lockdown (March–April 2020) and their engagement in remote academic work. Adopting an exploratory and qualitative approach, the study draws on ten narrative video interviews and thirty participant-generated images to investigate how structural dimensions—such as gender, class, caregiving responsibilities, and the organizational culture of the neoliberal university—shaped these lived experiences. The findings highlight the implosion of boundaries between paid work, care, family life, and personal space and how this disarticulation exacerbated existing inequalities, particularly for women and caregivers. By interpreting both visual and narrative data through a sociological lens on gender, work, and organizations, the paper contributes to current debates on the transformation of academic labor and the reshaping of temporal work regimes through the everyday use of digital technologies in contemporary neoliberal capitalism. It challenges the individualization of discourses on productivity and flexibility and calls for gender-sensitive, structurally informed policies that support equitable and sustainable transitions in work and family life, in line with European policy frameworks. Full article

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional management and social exchanges in the hospitality industry, focusing on food and beverage workers in Tel Aviv and New Orleans. Through 66 in-depth interviews conducted between 2021 and 2022, we explore how workers navigated altered social dynamics, heightened emotional labor, and moral dilemmas. Our analysis, grounded in Social Exchange Theory, dramaturgical theory, and the sociology of emotions, reveals three key themes: social and emotional distancing, crisis-driven emotional management, and the reconceptualization of hospitality between altruism and pragmatism. Despite different cultural contexts, workers in both cities faced similar challenges, highlighting the globalized nature of the industry. The pandemic disrupted traditional reciprocal exchanges, forcing a reevaluation of hospitality practices. Finally, this study stresses how emotional and moral dilemmas became central to social exchanges during the pandemic. Full article

This paper analyzes the work of chaplaincy and spiritual care from the perspective of care recipients. Chaplains call their work a “ministry of presence,” a term of art that is often unclear to many who are not chaplains. How else might we conceptualize “presence” in order to ground it in the social science literature? Using sociological theory, we show that care recipients may experience a chaplain’s work as emotional labor, specifically “other-focused emotional labor.” Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of 38 care recipients, we find recipients feeling reassured by the chaplain; being offered support and help by the chaplain; and not feeling judged by the chaplain. These findings enlarge sociological concepts about spiritual care to include what recipients experience as emotional labor and call for a broader engagement between sociologists of religion and emotions. Full article

In ethnographic research, data collected through surveys, interviews, or questionnaires in the fields of sociology and anthropology often appear in diverse forms and languages. Building a powerful database system to store and process such data, as well as making good and efficient queries, is very challenging. This paper extensively investigates modern database technology to find out what the best technologies to store these varied and heterogeneous datasets are. The study examines several database categories: traditional relational databases, the NoSQL family of key-value databases, graph databases, document databases, object-oriented databases and vector databases, crucial for the latest artificial intelligence solutions. The research proves that when it comes to field data, the NoSQL lineup is the most appropriate, especially document and graph databases. Simplicity and flexibility found in document databases and advanced ability to deal with complex queries and rich data relationships attainable with graph databases make these two types of NoSQL databases the ideal choice if a large amount of data has to be processed. Advancements in vector databases that embed custom metadata offer new possibilities for detailed analysis and retrieval. However, converting contents into vector data remains challenging, especially in regions with unique oral traditions and languages. Constructing such databases is labor-intensive and requires domain experts to define metadata and relationships, posing a significant burden for research teams with extensive data collections. To this end, this paper proposes using Generative AI (GenAI) to help in the data-transformation process, a recommendation that is supported by testing where GenAI has proven itself a strong supplement to document and graph databases. It also discusses two methods of vector database support that are currently viable, although each has drawbacks and benefits. Full article

Based on observations and in-depth interviews with Catholic Religious Education teachers in Italy, this sociological study tackles “spirituality” as a register of legitimization in their professional settings. Compared with more established topics of “religious culture”, the motives of “spirituality” appear as a lesser category of justification in teachers’ discourse in two significant aspects: teaching about “spirituality” as a necessary component of human experience, and talking about their own relationship to “spirituality” as proof of sincere commitment and/or professionalism. Thus, in the context of teachers’ labor, “spirituality” constitutes an ambivalent category that can serve the purposes of Catholic institutions as well as forms of criticism of authority. Full article

This research combines a sociology of agrifood conceptual framework with a commodity systems analysis methodology to investigate the nexus of race, ethnicity, immigration, and health and safety in the US poultry processing industry. The poultry industry was the first agricultural sector to industrialize. Through vertical and horizontal integration, the industry is dominated by a few powerful firms. The industry has been criticized for multiple ethical failures regarding contract growers, processing plant workers, and communities. Meat and poultry processing is one of the most dangerous manufacturing jobs in the United States. Poultry processing is especially reliant on a non-union, minority, and immigrant labor force. This “Southern Model” is the preferred model of agrifood globalization. The COVID pandemic brought renewed attention to precarious work in poultry processing and exposed the lack of resilience in the agrifood system in general, and the poultry industry in particular. Full article

Climate change and land-use change are making landscape fires worse, causing them to grow in intensity and spread in range across Earth’s ecosystems. Extreme landscape fires can be devastating to people, ecosystems, and sociology. However, most research on landscape fires has not considered their potential impact on the economy, particularly with regard to entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurial activity includes the entry of new markets and the creation of new products or services, thereby facilitating the creation and expansion of economic activity. This manuscript empirically analyzes the impact of landscape fires on entrepreneurial activity, based on satellite monitoring data of landscape fires in China from 2014 to 2018. Different wind direction models and instrumental variable methods are used for empirical analysis. The results of the analysis show, first, that an increase in landscape fires in a county can significantly reduce local entrepreneurial activity. We further adopt the wind direction approach and instrumental variable approach to deal with potential endogeneity issues, and the regression results are consistent. Second, compared to eastern or high-economic-development areas, central and western or low-economic-development areas are more susceptible to exogenous landscape fires. Third, landscape fires have a negative impact on entrepreneurial activity through increasing air pollution, damaging human health, increasing risk aversion, and reducing the labor supply. It is important for both the government and the public to fully recognize the potential dangers that landscape fires pose to corporate behavior. This awareness can help reduce the impact of natural disasters such as landscape fires, protect the ecological environment, and provide solid support for corporate investment and regional development. Full article

Human resource (HR) risks are significant negative aspects of any organization. The main problem in the theory and practice of modern organizations is that there is no complex model and algorithm for managing HR risks. To define the essence of HR risks and basic approaches to their management, the authors conducted a survey of employees concerning the HR sphere. The authors used cluster and correlation–regression analysis to process the results of the survey conducted among employees about HR risks. Relying on general scientific research methods, data from open sources, including the review of scientific papers of foreign and national researchers and practitioners, and considering the opinions of the sociological survey respondents, the authors concluded that there is a need for carrying out close work with personnel to prevent conflicts in the working environment, increase the motivation for work, and involve the management team in regulating labor relationships. The scientific novelty of the study is that it considers the process of managing HR risks from a systemic perspective, while they are monitored based on the conceptual model suggested in the study. The models developed by the authors can be used in reality for managing HR risks faced by economic entities. Full article

Remote work displays the flexibility of labor relations and expands the possibilities of conducting professional activities balanced with fulfilling personal needs. Simultaneously, when implementing the telework mode of labor relations, the problems of ensuring the equality and confidentiality of employees require special attention. Given the current global and internal threats, the effective organization of teleworking is an issue to the fore, even in countries where it was not previously given the attention it deserves. This study aims to explore the labor legislation norms of the Republic of Kazakhstan as far as remote work is concerned from the viewpoint of effectiveness. This paper includes a sociological survey among Kazakhstani organizations to determine the conditions of employees working remotely and to use it for conclusions about the effectiveness of the legislation in preventing violations of workers’ rights. The study proposes mechanisms and rules aimed at the effective regulation of remote work to address the problems of confidentiality and the equal treatment of the employee, regardless of the mode of conducting his/her professional activities. This research advances knowledge in the field of legal and ethical aspects of the regulation of remote work, demonstrating the experience of developing countries with the study of the experience of Kazakhstan. Full article

This paper examines Latino/a children’s roles and obligations to their immigrant families. Bridging insights from the literature on the “new sociology of childhood,” immigrant incorporation, and care work, this essay argues that children perform important—but often invisible—labor in immigrant families. Dominant ideologies depict childhood as an “innocent” time wherein young people are in need of guidance and are too underdeveloped to make meaningful contributions. However, this construction of childhood ignores the lived realities of the children of immigrants, who often serve as gatekeepers and connect their families to services and resources in their communities. This essay examines six dimensions of support that the children of immigrants provide to their families, namely, language and cultural help, financial contributions, bureaucratic assistance, emotional labor, legal support, and guidance with technology. This essay concludes with implications for scholars, students, and policymakers on the importance of recognizing this labor, along with future directions for research. Full article

This research aims to substantiate the legitimacy of the simultaneous application of two competing sociological paradigms in studying professional (labor) migration of teachers and teacher education graduates, i.e., to use the “strategy of mixing methods”: the mobilities turn and the place attachment. This synthesis-based methodological approach includes micro and macro levels and neo-positivistic and individualistic phenomenology. It was substantiated during a sociological survey in 18 regions of the Russian Federation in August–September 2021. The survey respondents were 3065 teachers and 1132 teacher education graduates, and 255 respondents acted as experts, including six rectors of higher educational institutions of Russia, heads of regional and municipal education authorities (47 persons), and 202 directors of Russian schools. This study has highlighted the unique characteristics of labor migration in the educational space of the Russian school. As empirical research has shown, the reasons for professional migration, in general, and the migration of teachers and teacher education graduates, particularly, are largely similar and stem primarily from material factors. It has also shown that the reasons associated with personal and professional development opportunities should be considered. The identification of ideal factors was made possible by dividing respondents into five groups by criterion of integrating micro- and macro-problems. Full article

Different and profound are the consequences of the further development of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. One of the manifestations of the upcoming changes is the plethora of novel ways in which companies may organize labor and capital. So far, the influence of AI on organizational structure has been mainly studied from either a technological or a broader decision-making perspective. Our paper provides a unique take on the topic, emphasizing the distinctive role of human agency and its function in the upcoming AI-driven organizational changes. Relying on the existing academic literature, we theorized a set of hypotheses concerning best fits to the AI contingency on both macro and meso-organizational levels. To test whether the hypothesized changes might encounter organizational inertia or resistance from jobholders, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was applied to the online survey results. Four types of current and potential jobholders were distinguished according to their explicit attitudes towards hypothesized organizational changes: skeptics, doubtful skeptics, optimists, and doubtful optimists, the latter consisting primarily of emerging adults. Finally, we developed a model of intraorganizational response to the AI contingency based on four theoretical groups of individuals, as determined by the analysis. Our findings showed doubtful optimists to be the most important group, able to set organizational trends and positively influence skeptics and doubtful skeptics. Accordingly, promoters of AI-driven organizational changes are advised to design their communication efforts around emerging adults. As the survey was conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, its sociological and managerial implications are relevant to the looming reality of the postpandemic world. Full article