annotated bibliography malaysia - asean foundation ict & women empowerment cecilia ng, 2001,...

Annotated Bibliography Malaysia

Literature on Home-based Work and Homeworkers

AVAILABLE MATERIALS ON HOMEWORKERS, HOMEWORKERS’ ICT USE AND RELATED TOPICS

Name and location of Resource Centre: Lee Lee Loh Ludher’s personal library Collected from Library of National Council of Women (NCWO), Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD)); University Malaya (UM), University Putra Malaysia (UPM), National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN), Ministry of Human Resource Development (HR) and UNDP. Contact Person: Lee Lee Loh Ludher Contact information: [email protected]

Literature on Home-based Work and Homeworkers

No. Keyword(s) used in search

Bibliographic citation

For Further reading? Y/N

Note

1 Home-based Workers

Loh-Ludher, Lee Lee, 2002, “Chinese Women in Industrial Home Based Subcontracting in the Garment Industry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Neither Valued nor Costed” unpublished.

Yes Also in UM


Sen, Samita, 2003, “ Women, Work and Household in Industrialising Asia” in Amarjit Kaur (editor) “ Women Workers in Industrialising Asia : Costed, Not Valued”, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, pp 79-98

Yes Gives good literature review

Also in UPM


Wright, Denis, 2003, “ Sub-Contracting, Small Batch Production and Home-Based Women Workers” in Amarjit Kaur (editor) “ Women Workers in Industrial-ising Asia : Costed, Not Valued”, New York, Palgrave Macmillan pp 129- 146

Yes For issues

Also in UPM

4 Home-Based Workers and Health

Lin Vivian, 2003, “ Women Workers and Health: Semiconductor Industry in Singapore and Malaysia” in Amarjit Kaur (editor) “Women Workers in Industrial-ising Asia : Costed, Not Valued”, New York, Palgrave Macmillan pp 173- 194

No Also in UPM

5

Women in Technology

Azizan Baharuddin, 2003. “ Servicing the Global Society : Women in Science and Technology” in Roziah Omar and Azizah Hamzah (editors) “Women in Malaysia: Breaking Boundaries”, Kuala Lumpur, Utusan Publications

No

6 Home-Based Work and Gender Issues

Singh, Andrea Menefee and Anita Kelles-Viitanen (ed), 1987, “ Invisible Hands : Women in Home-based Production” New Delhi, Sage Publications

Yes Good for issues.

Also in UPM

1

mailto:[email protected]

7 ICT & Women Empowerment

Cecilia Ng, 2001, “Teleworking: Blessings for Women in Information Age?” in Azizah Hamzah, Norhanom Abdul Wahab, Farida Habib Shah and Tam Pham “Women in the New ICT Era: Challenges and Opportunities” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP pp 67-82

Yes For issues

Also In UM, UPM, MWFCD, UNDP

No. Keyword(s) used in search



Note

8 ICT & Women Empowerment

Supriyah Singh, 2001, “Gaps in Policy Formulation on Gender Sensitivity in Australia” in Azizah Hamzah et al “Women in the New ICT Era: Challenges and Opportunities” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP, pp 95 – 120

No Also in UNDP

9 ICT and Women Empowerment

Tengku Datuk Dr Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen Tengku Ibrahim, 2001, “Women and the “Digital Divide” in Azizah Hamzah et al “Women in the New ICT Era: Challenges and Opportunities” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP, pp 11-20

Yes For general info

Also in MWFCD, NCWO, UNDP


Hafkin, Nancy and Nancy Taggart, 2001, “Gender, Information Technology, and Developing Countries”, Washington DC, LearnLink, AED- USAID.

No


Mitter, Swasti and Cecilia Ng and Anne Munro Kua, 1997, “Bridging the Gap : Formulating Industrial Policies and Women’s Work for the Future” Maastricht, Netherlands, UNU/INTECH

No Does not touch on homeworkers

Also in UPM, UNDP


Farida Habib Shah, Nik Safiah Karim and Peter Anderson, 2001, “ Networking Women: Women Empowerment Through ICT”, Kuala Lumpur, NCWO.

No Just an example of assistance

Also in NCWO; MWFCD


Cecilia Ng and Shanti Thambiah, 1999, “Women and Work in the Information Age: Levelling the Playing Field in Malaysia” in Maimunah Ismail and Aminah Ahmad (eds) “Women and Work: Challenges in Industrializing Nations, Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN Academic Press, pp 81-106

Yes For some issues

Also in UM, UPM

14 Women Empowerment and ICT

Cecilia Ng (ed) 2001, “Teleworking and Development in Malaysia” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP.

Yes In UNDP

15 ICT Deol, K. S, “Podcasts: Internet Radio for the People, By the People” in “Mobile World”, April 2005, Kuala Lumpur, One World Solutions, pp 22-23

Yes

16 ICT Deol, K. S. “Podcast Your Way to Fame” in “Mobile World, May 2005, Kuala Lumpur, One World Solutions, pp 20-22

Yes

17 General info for Stats

Eighth Malaysia Plan, 1999, Kuala Lumpur, Government Printers.

No

18 General info for Stats

Economic Report 2004/05, 2004, Federal Treasury, Kuala Lumpur, Government Printers.

No

19 ICT in Ipoh City

Chan Li Leen, “Computer literacy and access go hand-in-hand” in The Star, Friday 10 June 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Nation p 27

Yes

3

Name and location of Resource Centre: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Library

No Keyword(s) sed in search


For Further eading? Y/N

Note

1 Woman and work

Madeline Berma, “Kemiskinan Isi Rumah dalam sector tidak formal” in Rahmah Ismail and Zaini Mahbar (editors) Wanita dan ekerjaan,1996, Call no HD 6059M4Wan

Yes

2 Woman and Development

Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Tan Pek Leng 1985 in Missing Women Development Planning in Asia and the Pacific, Asian and Pacific Development Centre, Call no HQ 1726 Mis

Good for gender inequality issues


Women Studies Forum, Published by Korean Women Development Institute, call no, HQ 1765.5WSF

No

4 Women and employment

Malaysian women in the manufacturing sector: a study of their employment trends and prospects/ Geetha Subramaniam.,1996, Call no HD6192.6

No

5

Women and rights

ABC of women workers' rights and gender equality International Labour Office,2000

Yes. As a reference to the policy made for gender equality and worker rights. But the policy has not been stated.

Also in UNDP


Women, economic growth & development in Malaysia/ Sha'ban Muftah Isma'il, 1997, in Petaling Jaya: IBS Buku

No

Name and location of Resource Centre: Universiti Sains Malaysia Library

No Keyword(s) used in search



Note

1 Women & Work

Masud, Jariah & Paim, Laily. 1999. “The Economic Empowerment of Rural Women Through Involvement in Micro Enterprise” in “Women and Work Challenges in

Yes

3

2

Industrializing Nations” London, ASEAN Academic Press

2 Women & Work

Fernandez, Elizabeth (Editor) et al. 1998 “Women participating in Global Change” Sydney, International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). Women’s Symposium Publications Committee

No




Note

3 Entrepreneurs Ismail, Maimunah. 2001. “Malaysian Women in Rural Development and Entrepreneurship: From Rural Producers to Urban Entrepreneurs”, in London: ASEAN Academic Press

No

4 Telecommut-ing

Ndubisi, Nelson Olunna. 2003. “Impact of Attitude on Adoption of Telecommuting in Organizations in Penang” Thesis, (unpublished)

No

5 ICT Antony, Smith. “Cre8tive ICT” 2004, London, David Fulton

No

6 ICT Martensson, N., Mackay, R., and Bjorgvinsson, S., 1998. “Changing Ways We Work Shaping the ICT-Solution for the Next Century: Proceedings on the Conference on Integration in Manufacturing” Amsterdam, IOS Press

No

7 ICT Hamzah, Azizah (Editor), 2001, “Compilation of Papers and Presentation from International Forum on Women in the New ICT Era Challenges and Opportunities” Seri Kembangan, National Council of Women’s Organization

No Reproduced In NCWO Publication Reviewed in Lee Lee Loh-Ludher’s collection

8 Women workers

Kaye, Broadbent. 2003 “Women’s Employment in Japan: The Experience of Part Time Workers” London, Routledge Curzon

No

9 Women and Work

Mohd Noor, Noraini. 2001 “Challenges of Contemporary Malaysian Women” Seri Kembangan, International Islamic University Malaysia

No

10 Women and Work

Kumar, Raj (Editor). 2000 “Women and Work” New Delhi, Anmol Publication

No

Name and location of Resource Centre: Universiti Putra Malaysia




Note

4

1 Home-based workers

Cath Sullivan, Suzan Lewis, 2001 (online 2002), “Home-based Telework, Gender and the Synchronisation of Work and Family: Perspectives of Teleworkers and their Co-residents” in Gender, Work and Organisation, Vol 8, issue 2, pp 123-237, Online publication date 16 Dec 2002

No




Note

2 Homeworking Cath Sullivan, 2003, “What’s in a name? Definitions and conceptualizations of teleworking and homeworking”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 18, issue 3, pp 158-165

No

3 Workplace in the home

Susan Baines, Ulrike Gelder, 2003, “What is family friendly about the workplace in the home? The case of self-employed parents and their children”, New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 18, issue 3, pp 223-234

No

4 Working in the home, teleworker

Susan Baines, 2002, “New technologies and old ways of working in the home of the self-employed teleworker”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 17, issue 2, p 89 Online publication date 17 Dec 2002

No

5 ICT, Homeworkers

Emmanuel Ogbonna, Lloyd C. Harris, 2005, “The adoption and use of information technology: a longitudinal study of a mature family firm”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 20, issue 2, p 2, Online publication date 16 Mar 2005

No

6 Teleworker Leslie Haddon, Malcolm Brynin, 2005, “The character of telework and the characteristics of teleworkers”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 20, issue 1, p 34, Online publication date 16 Mar 2005

No

7 ICT, Homeworkers

Susan Bryant, 2000, “At home on the electronic frontier: work, gender and the information highway”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 15, issue 1, p 19

No

8 Gender, Teleworking

Melanie Wilson, Anita Greenhill, 2004, “Gender and teleworking identities in the risk society: a research agenda”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 19, issue 3, pp 207-221

No

9 Working in home

Irene Hardhill, Anne Green, 2003, “Remote working – altering the spatial contours of work and home in the new economy”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 18, issue 3, pp 212-222

No

10 Teleworking Susan Baines, 1999, “Servicing the media: freelancing, teleworking and ‘enterprising’ careers”, in New Technology, Work and Employment, Volume 14, issue 1, pp 18-31

No

11 Working from home

Maria L. Watkins, No (unpublished)

Name and location of Resource Centre: Universiti Malaya

No.

Keyword(s) used in search



Note

1 Women in Business

Lang Chin Ying & Sieh Mei Ling, 1989, “Women in business”, Colloquium on Women and Development in Malaysia - Implications for Planning and Population Dynamics (10-12 Jan: Kuala Lumpur).

No outdated

2 Women and business

McCall, Leslie, 1964, “Complex inequality: gender, class, and race in the new economy”, New York, Routledge

No

3 Woman and business

Emilda Hashim, 2002, “Working women in Malaysia: past and future trends” Dissertation, Universiti Malaya, HB71 UM 2002, (unpublished)

No

4 Woman and business

Noraini Mohd. Noor Work, 2001, “Work, Family, and women's well-being: selected papers”, International Islamic University Malaysia

No


Leong, Yoke Yien, 2000, “Participation of female hawkers in economic and family activities”, Thesis, (unpublished)

No


Cecilia Ng, (1999) “Positioning women in Malaysia: class and gender in an industrialising state” Palgrave, Macmillan

No

7 Women and industrial

Maimunah Ismail, 1999, “Women and work: challenges in industrializing nations” ASEAN, Academic Press Ltd

Yes Reviewed in Lee Lee Loh-Ludher’s collection

8 Women and informal sector

1998, “Women in the informal sector in Malaysia: household ethnography”, (unpublished)

No The year of study was 1960

9 Women and labour

Fernandez, Jacqueline Liza, 1997, “Labour force participation of urban women in Peninsular Malaysia” (unpublished)

Yes For general info


Tan, Poo Chang, 1997, “Women in the informal sector in Malaysia: policy implications”, (unpublished)

No

5

11 Women and development

Nagaraj, Shyamala, 1996, “Women and development in Malaysia” (unpublished)

No


Cecilia Ng,1996 “Technology and gender in the global economy: implications for Malaysian women” (unpublished)

No Just an example of assistance

No.




Note


1996, Papers of the Seminar "Approaching the 21st Century: Challenges Facing Malaysian Women" held 8-9 March 1996 in Kuala Lumpur Seminar "Approaching the 21st Century: Challenges Facing Malaysian Women", Kuala Lumpur

No

14 Women Empowerment and ICT

Tan, Bee Tuan,1995 “Participation of women in the labour force and the need for child care services: a comparative study between Japan, United States and Malaysia” (unpublished)

No


Sukor Kasim,1993, “Women in the informal sector: the Amanah Ikhtiar experience” (unpublished)

No

16 Labour and women

1990 “Need for an ILO convention for home-based workers” Lawasia Second International Seminar on Labour Law, New Delhi, (unpublished)

No Issues updated in later publication

17 ICT and women 2004, Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Informatics and Research on Women in ICT (RWICT) 2004 held on 28-30 July in Kuala Lumpur Joint International Conference on Informatics and Research on Women in ICT (RWICT) 2004: Kuala Lumpur (unpublished)

No

18 Telecommunic-ation and women

Cecilia Ng, 1950-1999, “Information technology, gender and employment: a case study of the telecommunications industry in Malaysia” (unpublished)

No Historical

19 Telecommunic-ation and women

Gill Kirkup, Laurie Smith Keller, (editor et al) 1992, “Inventing women: science, technology, and gender” The Open University, United Kingdom,

No

20 Women and work

Cecilia Ng, 1950-1987, “Technology and gender: women's work in Asia” (unpublished)

No

21 Law, work and women

Schuler, Margaret,1986, “Empowerment and the law: strategies of Third World women”, Washington D. C., Women, Law and Development Ltd.

No

22 Homeworkers, Women

Edwards, Linda N.; Field-Hendrey, Elizabeth, 2002, “Home-based work and women's labour force decisions” in Journal of Labour Economics, 20(1): pp.

Yes

170-200,


Mahmood, Atiya Niloufer, 2002, “Work and Home Boundaries: Sociospatial Analysis of Women's Live-work Environments” in DAI-A, 63(03): p. 792

Yes


Lopez-estrada, Silvia, 2000, “Making the Home Work: Women's Home-based Work in Tijuana, Mexico” in DAI-A, 61(02): p. 789

Yes

No.




Note


Osnowitz, Debra, 2005, “Managing Time in Domestic Space: Home-Based Contractors and Household Work” in Gender and Society, 19(1): pp. 83-103

Yes


Gerson, Judith M., 1996, “Home to Work: Motherhood and the Politics of Industrial Homework in the United States/Getting By: Women homeworkers and Rural Economic Development (Book)” in Contemporary Sociology, 25(6): pp. 802-804

Yes

27 Women work from home

Amyot, Daphne Jill, 1997, “Work-family Conflict and Home-based Work” in Masters Abstracts International, 35(02): p.454

Yes


Christensen, KE, 1985, “Women and Home-based Work” in Social Policy,15 (3), pp 54-57

No


Berheide, CW, 1984, “Women's Work in The Home: Seems Like Old Times” in Marriage & Family Review, 7, 3/4, pp37-55

No

30 Teleworking Women

Lewis, Suzan; Sixsmith, Judith; Sullivan, Cath; Hootsmans, Helen; Clason, Christine, 2001, “When work comes home: managing stress in teleworkers' families” Poster presented at the 63rd Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, November 8-11

Yes


Hulten, Kerstin, 2001, “The Computer on the Kitchen Table: A Study of Women Teleworking in Their Homes” in DAI-C, 62(01): p. 34, Spring

Yes


Lansbury, R, 1997, “Employment and the future”, In: Davis, E. and Pratt, V. eds. Making the link 8: affirmative action and industrial relations. Sydney, NSW: Affirmative Action Agency and Labour-Management Studies Foundation, Macquarie University, 1997, p37-43

Yes

33 Women and ICT Norlida Mohd. Ibrahim, 2003, “Perbezaan Tahap Penggunaan Produk ICT di kalangan Wanita Malaysia”,(Difference in Usage of ICT Products among Women in Malaysia), Unpublished Masters Dissertation, Jabatan Pengajian Media, Universiti Malaya.

Yes

Synopsis of Recommended Literature Masud, Jariah & Paim, Laily. 1999. “The Economic Empowerment of Rural Women Through Involvement in Micro Enterprise” in “Women and Work Challenges in Industrializing Nations” London, ASEAN Academic Press

Background o Data collected from 319 who participated in micro-enterprise projects through

peninsular Malaysia. The specific objectives were: to study the contribution of women’s earnings from micro-enterprises to the

family’s income. to highlight evidence of economic empowerment among women involved in

micro-enterprise. to recommend appropriate programmes to improve economic empowerment

of rural women through micro-enterprise.

Findings o Majority of the women produced food based products such as snack food, fresh

food, and traditional cakes. At the time of the writing, they were producing 56 types of products (6 main groups).

o These women started the business with anything that was available within their reach including banana, tapioca, and rice flour.

o Production of some items such as chilli sauces tended to be small to cater for local market demand. Agricultural products were also produced in small quantities.

o Several reasons were found to be the basis of these women in starting the

businesses: To increase their income and have a sense of control over their own income

(majority felt this way). Motivated by their interest in the activity. Social reasons.

o The number of women who operated from their house declined since some of

them had to operate away from home to accommodate the increase in production, from 70% to 55% (as a result of increase in demand).

o Main problems/challenges faced by these women:

Marketing. Financial and managerial activities. Access to training.

Conclusion

o Earning their own money has provided some socio-economic empowerment to the majority of women in this study.

o Women gained knowledge in managing and controlling productive resources, skill, and experience, and an increase in their ability to source relevant information and solve problems that equip them to become entrepreneurs.

o Contribution to the economic well being of the family increases substantially. o Women have an extent of economic empowerment in the family and in the

community.

o The researcher suggested that rural women, especially those involved in the micro-enterprise should be encouraged and supported by training provision and facilities to increase their managerial skills and productivity.

Loh-Ludher, Lee Lee, 2002, “Chinese Women in Industrial Home Based Subcontracting in the Garment Industry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Neither Valued nor Costed”, unpublished.

Background o Ph D Thesis. o Subject studied: Chinese Women in Industrial Home Based Subcontracting in

the Garment Industry. o Study conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 1992-1996 with revisit in

2000. o Research questioned the cost and value of women’s productive and reproductive

work to the economy and household, and attempt to give visibility to home-based subcontractors.

o Research uses questionnaires, interviews, oral history and observation and case study. It tries to take a Feminist Research approach.

Findings

o The Chinese home-based subcontractors entered the formal labour force (workings in garment factories) when they were single and young but withdrew into home-based subcontracting after marriage and childbirth. The study profiles the home-based subcontractors.

o Bounded by patriarchal ideology of ‘good mother and good wife first’ ideology, these women bore the physical and psychological responsibility for reproductive work as well as to be gainfully employed to provide the family with primary or supplementary income to raise the well-being of the family. They creatively ‘chose’ to work from home to integrate productive with reproductive work.

Conclusion

o While the home-based subcontractors provide the garment industry with adaptability to ensure competitiveness and flexibility, the industry does not value or cost the home-based subcontractors’ contribution.

o Families fail to realistically assess the quantum and worth of their contribution. Sen, Samita, 2003, “Women, Work and Household in Industrialising Asia” in Amarjit Kaur (editor) “Women Workers in Industrialising Asia: Costed, Not Valued”, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, pp 79-98

Background o Good literature survey of women and work in Asia. o Study mainly based on secondary data on women workers in Asia with some

focus on Thailand and Malaysia. o It looks at Gender division of work in industry and the feminization of labour. It

has a good section on ‘Outside departments of factories: Women and home-based work.’ It looks at homeworking as the ‘invisible threads’ of capitalism (Karl Marx) and how it has helped industries, both traditional and new.

Findings

o Women respond to varied and contradictory ways because of competing claims on their productive and reproductive labour. Although women in Southeast Asia have more power than those in South Asia, they are similarly constrained in the public sphere which demands feminine ideals of docility and obedience.

Conclusion

o Feminization of labour force has benefited women in some ways. Though the women workers suffer discrimination in the labour force, they benefit in areas like autonomy and self confidence. They have wider societal attitudes, positive self image which have led women to new values of assertiveness and self-worth.

Wright, Denis, 2003, “Sub-Contracting, Small Batch Production and Home-Based Women Workers” in Amarjit Kaur (editor) “Women Workers in Industrialising Asia: Costed, Not Valued”, New York, Palgrave Macmillan pp 129- 146

Background o The article gives a good review of works of others on this area of subcontracting

and home-based work. It focuses on the garment industry and has a small section on home-based work (1 page), working conditions of women workers under subcontracting arrangements and organizing women homeworkers such as. Self Employed Women’s Association, India (SEWA) and HomeNet

Findings

o The playing field for home-based workers and subcontractors is uneven.

Conclusion o There is a need for new rules to assist these women in the globalised economy. Chan Li Leen, 2005, “Computer literacy and access go hand-in-hand”, The Star, Kuala Lumpur, p27

Background

o The article is in response to Ipoh City’s announcement that every child will be given an email address at birth as a way to push their parents into ICT. The author interviews a shipyard labourer, a villager, an accounts clerk, a clerk and a confidential secretary for their opinion.

o The project was one of the 25 identified under the blueprint aims to give Perak 40% email usage in rural areas by 2010.

Findings

o Those interviewed welcome this but wondered if it will work if people are computer illiterate and lack skills and if the old folks will be able to become ICT savvy because of their children having an email address. There was also concern about ICT access in rural areas and the problem of affordability.

Conclusion

o There is a need for capacity building and access before the usage can increase.

Singh, Andrea Menefee and Anita Kelles-Viitanen (editor), 1987, “Invisible Hands: Women in Home-based Production” New Delhi, Sage Publications

Background

o Although the book is old 1987, it is highly recommended. It is one of the best for issues related to home-based women workers. Every one of the articles gives insight to the issues faced by women in home-based work.

o It discusses the nature and context of home-based work, the lack of recognition of home-based producers, the reason for working from home or near home, their contributions, issues related to home-based work and strategies to improve home-based work.

o The study mainly primary research set in India. It studies women home-based workers in different industries.

Findings

o Home-based workers due to lack of alternative employment opportunities, are forced to work from or near home for low wages, and long erratic hours. They suffer from fragmentation and atomization of the work force and thus are not organized.

o Their work is thus classified as subsidiary activities and are undervalued. o These women also tend to attach values other than economic ones to their home-

based work. This raises issues on classification of what they do as ‘work’ and how to quantify them. This increases their vulnerability to exploitation.

Conclusion

o Central to the issue is the visibility of home-based work. As it is often not regarded as ‘work’, it does not benefit from the protection of law or labour movement.

o The benefits of development do not reach them. There is also a lack of political will to assist them.

o Strategies and more research are needed to make them ‘visible’. Cecilia Ng, 2001, “Teleworking : Blessings for Women in Information Age ?” in Azizah Hamzah, Norhanom Abdul Wahab, Farida Habib Shah and Tam Pham “ Women in the New ICT Era: Challenges and Opportunities” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP pp 67-82 Cecilia Ng and Shanti Thambiah, 1999, “Women and Work in the Information Age: Levelling the Playing Field in Malaysia” in Maimunah Ismail and Aminah Ahmad (eds) “Women and Work: Challenges in Industrializing Nations”, Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN Academic Press, pp 81-106 Cecilia Ng (ed) 2001, “Teleworking and Development in Malaysia” Kuala Lumpur, UNDP.

Background o These three articles are similar. They use both secondary and primary data. It

looks at teleworking as the new home-based work and the issues gender associated with this work. It looks at the spread and potential of teleworking in the K economy promoted by the Malaysian government. In the last article, there

is a study of teleworkers in the different industries e.g. banking and finance, telecommunications, software, printing and publishing and airlines. It discusses gender aspects of participation and opportunities.

Findings

o The study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of teleworking and also from the perspectives of the stakeholders including the disabled and women’s groups. There is great potential and opportunity for the future of work. However, the benefits for men and women are not the same. While it gives women the flexibility of working in terms of timing and location, it may not necessarily neutralize gender inequality.

Conclusion

o While the 8th Malaysia Plan promotes teleworking, much more is needed in terms of policy recommendation and intervention. There is a need for societal and organizational support; human resources and technical support skills and telecommunication infrastructure as well as computer hardware and software. It is necessary to create an enabling environment for special groups like the disabled and women.

Tengku Datuk Dr Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen Tengku Ibrahim, 2001, “Women and the “Digital Divide” in Azizah Hamzah et al “Women in the New ICT Era: Challenges and Opportunities”, Kuala Lumpur, UNDP pp 11-20

Background o This was a keynote address by the Head of Mimos at an International Forum on

Women in the ICT Era. It gives an overview of the situation in Malaysia and addresses the key issues relating to how women can utilize the opportunities of ICT.

Findings

o It gives some facts and figures on the spread and penetration of ICT use in Malaysia. It addresses the question of the digital divide which polarizes those who have access to ICT and those without.

Conclusion

o There is a need to close this divide with equitable participation of women in

ICT. A policy needs to be formulated to facilitate participation of qualified and educated women and also the disadvantaged and rural women to enable lifelong learning.

Madeline Berma, “Kemiskinan Isi Rumah dalam sector tidak formal” in Rahmah Ismail and Zaini Mahbar (editors) Wanita dan Pekerjaan , 1996, Call no HD 6059M4Wan, Publisher:Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 1996.

Background o This chapter particularly discusses the poverty of women especially for those

working in the informal sector. This chapter also discusses the reason why women fall into poverty and why the informal sector becomes one of the poverty

defining factors. This chapter also discusses the social background in a poor family and the status of a woman in her family.

Findings o Among the findings the author wrote about is one relating to the imbalance in

the proportion of food given to individuals in a house. A woman, even if she is the sole bread winner ends up getting very little food compared to those others living in the house. The woman most of the time, has to sacrifice the quality and quantity of food for their children or spouse.

o Another significant finding that is very much related to our research is that the

women have to spend more time on economic activities and housework than a husband who works. This research also shows that generally a woman has less time to rest than a man.

o The author also points out that the reason women being poor even after such

hardship is because they do not have the control on their money or estates, which affects the pattern of their expenditure. The research findings states that even though the woman contribute most of the income, they do not have power over the income, and even if they do have the control, most of the money goes to the household expenditure. This situation is clearly the opposite for men who spend most of their salary on themselves.

Conclusion

o The research finally concludes that women are most likely to be below the country’s poverty line This research also concludes that women go into the informal sector because of their poor education and inexperience, or they were ‘forced’ into the sector due to their multiple roles. Even though they contribute quite a large percentage to the household income, their status in the society appears to be quite depressing. The author suggests that implementation of training and social assistance should be given to women in all strata so that they can advance both socially and materially.

Deol, K. S., 2005, “Podcasts: Internet Radio for the People, By the People” in Mobile World, One World Solutions, Kuala Lumpur, pp 22-23

Deol, K. S., 2005, “Podcast Your Way to Fame” in Mobile World, One World Solutions, Kuala Lumpur, pp 22-23

Background

o The articles are about private audio broadcasting via internet. Cheap way to have one’s own private audio broadcasting. It gives info on how to connect to podcasts as well as doing own podcast.

o Raslan Sharif, 2004, “More Malaysians getting dialup access”, in Tech, The Star, Kuala Lumpur

Background

o The article was based on the statistics compiled by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission in 2003. It explores and compares the Internet penetration rate throughout Malaysia.

Findings o The Internet penetration rate was highest in Kuala Lumpur with just over one in

three city residents subscribing to the Internet--an increase of 3.5% from the end of 2003.

o The total number of dial up subscribers in the first quarter of 2005 was approximately 3.15 million, representing an increase of 8.4% when compared to the end of 2003.

o With the exception of Labuan, Sabah had the lowest rate despite a 3.6% increase over the last year.

Conclusion

o Key factors determining the penetration rates were attributed to household incomes together with geographical and population densities.

Susanne Teltscher, 2002, “Gender, ICT and Development”, Background note to presentation given at ‘World Civil Society Forum’, Geneva, 1-9 July 2002

Background o The note poses the question as to whether women have equal access to new

technologies and the Internet and whether e-commerce is able to enhance business opportunities, especially in developing countries.

o It also explores the employment opportunities for women in the ICT sector and analyses whether the patterns of segregation experienced elsewhere in the job market are replicated.

o Barriers that women need to overcome to actively participate in the digital economy are examined.

Findings

o ICT and e-commerce have provided new opportunities for small enterprises related to telephony services as well as enabling more traditional businesses such as handicrafts to improve profitability due to access to new markets.

o While access to higher-skilled IT-related employment is still difficult, employment opportunities for women with low-level skills has grown significantly due to the decentralisation of non-core sections of business operations such as teleworking.

o Although new technologies offer significant employment opportunities for women, access to education for women, acquirement of skills and training, access to the technologies themselves and the knowledge of foreign languages, particularly English, represent major barriers to developing countries and their ability to overcome the gender digital divide.

o Provision of education for girls and women is identified as being the single most important factor in improving their ability to participate in the information society.

Conclusion o While ICT and e-commerce offer significant possibilities to improve the lives of

women and their families in developing countries the majority of women in these countries are still excluded from the digital economy.

o The author concludes that the gender digital divide must be addressed to ensure that women’s needs are incorporated in national ICT and e-commerce strategies and policies related to infrastructure, access, training and education which, in addition, will increase national capacity and economic growth.

Who by, 2005, “Malaysians second most frequent NET users in SEA”, The Star, Kuala Lumpur,

Background

o Based on statistics compiled by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) the article compared the frequency of NET usage by the respective countries of South East Asia.

Findings

o According to MCMC, Malaysia has 3,413 registered Internet users per 10,000 people, which, with the exception of Singapore, which has 5,088 registered users per 10,000, is significantly more than other neighbouring countries. Thailand – 1,105, Brunei – 1,023, Philippines – 440.

o The estimated number of dial up users by mid 2005 had reached 10.32 million with Sabah at 4.2 users per 100 inhabitants having the lowest dialup penetration rate. The Federal Territory had the highest penetration with 34.2 users per 100 inhabitants.

o The MCMC recorded an estimated 294,646 subscriptions for broadband representing an increase of 107% over the equivalent period for the year before.

Conclusion

o Malaysians are the second most frequent Net users in Southeast Asia. o The penetration rate for broadband technology was comparatively low compared

to dial up users being 1.13% per 100 people compared to 13.2% for dial up users over the same period.

Edwards, Linda N.; Field-Hendrey, Elizabeth, 2002, “Home-based work and women's labour force decisions” Journal of Labour Economics, 20(1): pp. 170-200

Background

o Home-based work differs from other employment because the work site is the home itself. This difference means that the fixed costs of working at home are less than the fixed costs of working on site and that home-based workers may engage in joint market and household production. Using data from the 1990 Census, the study found that home-based work is an attractive option for women for whom the fixed costs of work are high - women who have small children, are disabled, or live in rural areas - and that home-based workers are more likely to choose self-employment than are on-site workers. [English Abstract]

Mahmood, Atiya Niloufer, 2002, “Work and Home Boundaries: Sociospatial Analysis of Women's Live-work Environments”, DAI-A, 63(03): p. 792

Background o Analyzing the social, spatial and temporal context of home-based work, this

study examines how home-based women workers manage multiple roles and activities within the same physical location. Data collected on the coping and negotiating strategies employed by women as agents in modification of, or perpetuation of, the structures of opportunities and constraints, provides insights into how women manage their multiple roles and how they negotiate traditional notions of work and home. The research questions are: (1) What are the emerging patterns of activity (work) systems of home-based women workers in Milwaukee? Do these vary across neighbourhoods of different socioeconomic composition? (2) What are the socio-spatial and temporal characteristics of settings in which study participants work? Are there any variations across different neighbourhoods, work and household types? (3) How do home-based women workers in different neighbourhoods accommodate paid work within their residences? Forty participants were selected from three study areas in the city of Milwaukee: an economically depressed area with a predominantly African-American population, a mixed income neighbourhood with an ethnically heterogeneous population and a middle income neighbourhood with a predominantly white population. Data collection includes qualitative interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and an observational inventory of physical characteristics of dwelling and work space. Data is analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative text analysis. The findings reveal that home-based workers-as active agents-interact with the existing structures (rules and resources) of their live-work environments to accommodate their primary work activity within their residences through boundary management practices that have spatial, temporal or behavioural manifestations. These practices exist along a continuum of integration and segmentation between work and home. Participants use segmentation strategies of defending and intrusion reduction to place boundaries between work and home and integration strategies of switching to remove boundaries between these two realms. Presence of clients in the residence, expectations or requirements of clients, household composition and household members' needs and practices, nature and motive of home-based work and spatial affordances of work settings influence how and when these boundaries between work and home are placed or removed.

Lopez-estrada, Silvia, 2000, “Making the Home Work: Women's Home-based Work in Tijuana, Mexico”, DAI-A, 61(02): p. 789

Background

o In this dissertation I provide a detailed analysis of the contemporary forms of home-based work in Tijuana, a Mexican city located in the US-Mexico border. By using in-depth interviews with women home-based workers, this micro socio-spatial analysis is able to focus in the relationship between production and reproduction at the scale of the household. I propose that what structures the relationship between both spheres is the socio-spatial conflict and the time-space household arrangements women practice in everyday life to balance home and

work. In this study home-based work is composed of activities of commerce and services carried out in the worker's household for monetary income or barter exchange. This kind of work is heterogeneous in terms of activities, legal regulation, material resources, women's motivations and experiences according to individual and family situations. Women's engagement in home-based work depends on several variables: At the macro structural level, the local labour market conditions and government employment policies; at the level of the household, the structure and organization of daily life; and individual factors like women's occupation, social class and life course. In revealing the map of daily interactions within the household, this study discloses an array of time-space arrangements women use to accommodate paid work at home. The study emphasizes the spatial consequences of home-based work for gender relations and the social ecology of family life, for which a particular framework focused on the intersection between gender and space at the level of the household, has been developed. The analytical framework used in this investigation demonstrates a new way of organizing research on home-based work in order to avoid dichotomous categories commonly used. The study focuses on the home as an interactive site for multiple social relationships and addresses the diversity of meanings that women home-based workers attach to the home as living and working space, as a result of the interplay between material practices and social relations that take place when the home is produced as workplace.

o Osnowitz, Debra, 2005, “Managing Time in Domestic Space: Home-Based Contractors and Household Work”, Gender and Society, 19 (1): pp. 83-103

Background o Much research shows that paid work performed at home supports a gendered

division of household labour, leaving women disproportionately responsible for unpaid domestic work. For contract professionals, however, the flexibility to manage working time outside the constraints of a standard job allows both men and women to meld paid employment with household responsibilities. Interspersing paid and unpaid work, home-based contractors-both women and men-accommodate family needs. They arrange daily schedules to be available parents and household managers, and they develop longer-term career trajectories that allow adjustment over time. For women, however, long-standing notions of domesticity make such accommodation invisible, normative, and unremarkable. For men, in contrast, home-based contracting can create the space with which to challenge gender norms. For these home workers, therefore, the same arrangement simultaneously reinforces and resists conventional constructions of gender.

Gerson, Judith M., 1996, “Home to Work: Motherhood and the Politics of Industrial Homework in the United States/Getting By: Women Homeworkers and Rural Economic Development (Book)”, Contemporary Sociology, 25(6): pp. 802-804

Background o Reviews two books women employees. "Home to Work: Motherhood and the

Politics of Industrial Homework in the United States," by Eileen Boris; "Getting By: Women Homeworkers and Rural Economic Development," by Christina E. Gringeri.

Amyot, Daphne Jill, 1997, “Work-family Conflict and Home-based Work”, Masters Abstracts International, 35(02): p.454

Background

o This study examines the effect of home-based employment on the work-family conflict of women in dual-earner couples with young children. From the perspective of gender roles, it was predicted that home-based women would experience lower levels of work-family conflict than women who work outside the home because they would feel less in opposition to traditional gender-role concepts. Using data from the 1988 National Child Care Study, a sample of 4743 women provided information about their family and work characteristics, and the level of tension they feel in juggling work, family, and child care responsibilities. Home-based and non home-based women differed on a number of work, family and demographic characteristics, but there was no significant difference between the two groups in their levels of work-family conflict. Workplace location did make a difference, however, in subgroups of the sample selected by occupational classification. Home-based women in clerical and service occupations reported less tension than their non home-based counterparts; while home-based women in primary occupations (farming, fishing, forestry, mining) reported more tension than their non home-based counterparts. In a regression analysis assessing the prediction of work-family conflict, it was found that total hours worked, age of youngest child, and total family income were significant contributors, but not workplace location. The findings suggest more research is needed to examine the role of 'subjective' factors in the perception of work-family conflict.

Lewis, Suzan; Sixsmith, Judith; Sullivan, Cath; Hootsmans, Helen; Clason, Christine, 2001, “When work comes home: managing stress in teleworkers' families”, Poster presented at the 63rd Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, November 8-11

Background o This workshop focused on the impact of telework on family life in different

national contexts. Telework may have the potential to reduce work-family conflict and stress, but can also create new stressors, depending on how time and space are managed within the household. The workshop presented case studies derived from a multidisciplinary, multinational pilot study of the impact of home working on workers and their co-residents. Research has been carried out in the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Canada. The goals are to develop ideas about how to support teleworking households in a range of different contexts, as well as to consider implications for future research in this area. [English Abstract]

Hulten, Kerstin, 2001, “The Computer on the Kitchen Table: A Study of Women Teleworking in Their Homes”, DAI-C, 62(01): p. 34, Spring

Background

o The purpose of this study is to analyse the situation of living and working for women who are teleworking in their homes. Telework carried out in the home will mean that paid and unpaid work will be done in the same location. When this happens, the division of time and space between paid and unpaid work is no longer self-evident, contrary to what appears to be the case when the workplace and the home are two separate places. Two groups of women have been interviewed. The empirical part shows that the women acquire certain flexibility in time and space and experience a form of totality that they feel they have missed earlier. At the same time they mean that they are caught in a gender-trap, and the study shows a clear gender division of labour. In the theses the question is posed, what is the cause of the gender division of labour. In order to be able to answer the question, the thesis is referring to three other studies showing how women with paid work outside their homes deal with the relation between paid and unpaid work. In these studies it is pointed out that the time aspect is important for creating balance and a feeling of totality in the working and living situation. For the teleworking women however, the space aspect is more evident than the problem with time. It is through the possibilities to join in space the paid and unpaid work, that the women experience totality in their lives as well as this possibility also causes the gender division of labour. Some of the experiences in their work situation can also be related to how the phenomenon "work" is conceptualised. The thesis discusses some of the attempts within social sciences to develop the concept of work. The point of departure for the discussion of the development of the concept of work is the physical boundary between home and family, and between paid work and unpaid work. As telework in the home changes this boundary, those discussions cannot be applied in this situation. In the thesis it is shown that the absence of this boundary influences how the interviewees look upon work. This discussion shows that neither time nor place can be used to define what work is. Instead the importance of defining the concept of work is based on the activities that are being carried out.

Lansbury, R, 1997, “Employment and the future”, In: Davis, E. and Pratt, V. eds. Making the link 8: affirmative action and industrial relations. Sydney, NSW: Affirmative Action Agency and Labour-Management Studies Foundation, Macquarie University, 1997, p37-43

Background o In considering the massive economic, social and technological changes which

Australia is currently experiencing, this paper explores the future of work, arguing that the nature and organisation of work in the coming century will be largely determined by the economic and social structures which exist. New forms of work organisation, where home based work is encouraged, are examined, focusing on the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) decision, which, in 1994, approved the world's first teleworking award allowing federal public servants to work from home for three days a week. The role of new technology is considered and the issues of the increasing numbers of older workers continuing in the workplace and the place of women in the workplace are discussed. Possible scenarios for Australia in the next century are outlined as likely alternatives: a return to full-time employment supported by the maintenance of a traditional work ethic; a high technology-based economy with

a small number of people responsible for the production and distribution of goods and services; and a more ecologically sustainable environment through a combination of elements of the high technology age and a return to a less materialistic approach to life.

Background

Norlida Mohd. Ibrahim, 2002, “Perbezaan Tahap Penggunaan Produk ICT di kalangan Wanita Malaysia”(Difference in Usage of ICT Products among Women in Malaysia), Unpublished Masters Dissertation, Jabatan Pengajian Media, Universiti Malaya.

o Norlida Mohd. Ibrahim studied a sample of 100 university students and 100 factory girls but no homeworker was included in the study.

Findings

o Norlida Mohd. Ibrahim (2002) found that students use ICT for information and knowledge (53%) ease of work (38%), communication (35%) and leisure (17%). Factory girls use the ICT tools for information and knowledge (58%), leisure (32%), communication (31%) and ease of work (11%). Computer usage among students is 80% but for factory girls it is 30%. Internet usage, among university students is 70% whereas among factory girls it is 6%.

annotated bibliography malaysia - asean foundation ict & women empowerment cecilia ng, 2001,...

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