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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Women and New Technologies in Comparative Perspective: Case Studies in Ivory Coast and Kenya
Author:Jules-Rosette, Bennetta
Year:1985
Periodical:African Urban Studies
Issue:21
Period:Spring
Pages:25-37
Language:English
Geographic terms:Ivory Coast - Côte d'Ivoire
Kenya
Subjects:women's employment
computer science
Women's Issues
Development and Technology
Abstract:Computerization introduces a new office hierarchy in African firms, based on the technical expertise of the computer managers and senior programmers. The computer operators, along with the rest of the clerical staff, remain at the lowest rung. Computerization also restructures the internal labour market that sustains the organizational hierarchy. Job titles tied to new technologies may be changed and grades inflated regardless of the actual content of the position. In addition computerization modifies mobility patterns and channels. The polarization between skilled and less skilled computer jobs creates a structural gap that makes it difficult for the clerk in a word processing or data entry post to advance to a technical managerial position without extensive postentry training. In Africa, such technological recoding may prevent large numbers of women from entering the clerical workforce by restructuring job qualifications referring to computer-related titles. At the higher levels of qualification, recoding may put limits on vertical mobility. A comparative overview of the introduction of computers into the workplace in Kenya and the Ivory Coast, based on the author's research over the past four years, illustrates some of the above aspects of the relationship between technology and bureaucracy in work settings. Bibliogr.
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