Papers by Johanna Weststar
This paper presents a case study of pregnancy/parental leave arrangements among faculty members a... more This paper presents a case study of pregnancy/parental leave arrangements among faculty members at a mid-sized Canadian university. Pregnancy/parental leaves and associated benefits are often taken for granted, particularly among unionized employees in Canada; however, this research shows that continued vigilance is required to maintain the standard and equity of these rights. The data consist of self-report accounts of faculty experiences in making leave arrangements over the period 2000-2010.
Corporate good governance and worker representation on corporate boards has received increasing a... more Corporate good governance and worker representation on corporate boards has received increasing attention over the last decade. One manifestation of this interest has been the inclusion of labour trustees on pension boards. In an assessment of their overall effectiveness, this study examines the contributions that labour trustee make to strategic and non-strategic board activities and the factors that encourage or hinder these contributions.
Adults engage in a remarkable number of learning activities. In Canada the majority of adults hav... more Adults engage in a remarkable number of learning activities. In Canada the majority of adults have a form of post-secondary certification (Statistics Canada, 2005), at least one-third are engaged in formal training courses outside of registered school programmes (Statistics Canada, 2004) and 85% are involved in some form of informal learning (Livingstone, 2005).
This paper presents a case study of pregnancy/parental leave arrangements among faculty members a... more This paper presents a case study of pregnancy/parental leave arrangements among faculty members at a mid-sized Canadian University from 2000-2010. The data show that leave arrangements were very inconsistent across faculties, across and within departments, and even for individual faculty members who had taken more than one leave. The majority of problematic cases were instances where a faculty member began or ended a leave in the middle of an academic term.
● A majority of salaried employees● Various disciplines● Still a maturing group of respondents● E... more ● A majority of salaried employees● Various disciplines● Still a maturing group of respondents● Employed developers working in big studios● Freelancers not always that free...● A group of would-be developers looking for passion at work● A work environment that you don't leave light-heartedly● A highly committed (but somewhat cynical) group of studio employees
Abstract This paper examines the propensity of video game developers to engage in collective acti... more Abstract This paper examines the propensity of video game developers to engage in collective action as a response to their employment risks. Mobilization theory (Tilly, 1978, Kelly, 1998) states that workers will move toward collective action if they perceive employment conditions as an 'injustice'and attribute that injustice to an external source (ie, the employer or industry at large).
Corporate good governance and worker representation on corporate boards has received increasing a... more Corporate good governance and worker representation on corporate boards has received increasing attention over the last decade. One manifestation of this interest has been the inclusion of labour trustees on pension boards. In an assessment of their overall effectiveness, this study examines the contributions that labour trustee make to strategic and non-strategic board activities and the factors that encourage or hinder these contributions.
ABSTRACT Societal rhetoric claims that the intellectual capital of workplaces must be leveraged i... more ABSTRACT Societal rhetoric claims that the intellectual capital of workplaces must be leveraged if Canada is to compete in the 'knowledge economy'. To achieve this, however, employers must create work environments that are favorable to workers and conducive to learning.
Abstract The video game industry is highly lucrative and has rapidly expanded over the last four ... more Abstract The video game industry is highly lucrative and has rapidly expanded over the last four decades. However there is limited academic research about the people who actually make the video games. This article provides an in-depth look into the culture of the video game workforce. Using ethnography and discourse analysis, this article seeks to identify and understand video game developers as a unique social group called an occupational community (Van Maanen and Barley, 1984).
The video game industry within North America is booming and successful games are highly lucrative... more The video game industry within North America is booming and successful games are highly lucrative, with examples such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 grossing more than $775 million in its first week on the market (Rose, 2011). High profile successes are creating a stereotypical image of the gaming industry. The industry appears to be a stable, fun, and hip way to get paid to play games.
Videogame developers are the graphic artists, animators, computer programmers, game designers and... more Videogame developers are the graphic artists, animators, computer programmers, game designers and producers who create video games. They are emblematic of the rising actors on the contemporary labour scene as they are highly skilled, mobile, non-unionized knowledge workers who are members of a project team. The industry has maintained the non-conformist feel of the dotcom era and created an image of a hip, fun, and free culture where you can get paid to play games (dePeuter & Dyer-Witheford, 2005; Ross, 2003).
This article examines the relationship between worker control and subjective underemployment amon... more This article examines the relationship between worker control and subjective underemployment among workers who have more education than is needed for entry into their jobs (credential underemployment). Results indicate that social and technical controls are related to a greater sense of education-job matching. Workers who have credential underemployment are less likely to report subjective underemployment (underutilization and lack of fit between education and job) if they have higher levels of workplace control. This article contains implications for job design and the role of employers and managers in fostering the utilization of their workforces.
This thesis examines the role of worker control in participation in work-related learning and in ... more This thesis examines the role of worker control in participation in work-related learning and in the phenomenon of underemployment. Two Canadian surveys and a set of related interviews provide the data for the empirical and thematic analysis.
This article examines the efficacy of labor representation on pension boards. Using existing lite... more This article examines the efficacy of labor representation on pension boards. Using existing literature and interviews with labor trustees, this article develops a model where a more formal approach to recruitment and selection, skill acquisition, and accountability is hypothesized to aid labor trustees in achieving effective integration and representation on pension boards. Data indicate that labor trustees are placed in a challenging environment with insufficient support from their union, other trustees, or the board. These findings have important implications for the selection, training, and integration of labor trustees and the success of a labor agenda on pension issues.
In contrast to their absence from corporate boards in North America, labor representatives do hav... more In contrast to their absence from corporate boards in North America, labor representatives do have a seat on many pension boards. Given the lack of research on the role of labor participation in these fora, this study reports findings from a survey of labor trustees. We find that labor trustees make greater contributions to procedure-oriented processes such as information sharing, rule-making and rule interpretation; and, fewer contributions to investment-oriented processes such as investment decisions, fund performance and manager selection. Gender does not seem to matter in explaining participation in board activities. Accountability in terms of a requirement to report back to their union did increase labor trustee contribution but only to procedural issues, not investment issues. Short board tenure, lack of multiple labor seats and lack of training appear to limit labor trustees' contribution to investment-based issues. Prior exposure to pension issues, and longer tenure appear to increase contributions to procedure-based issues. Exclusionary board dynamics hinder both types of contributions by labor trustees. These findings suggest that labor trustees do take advantage of their position to make procedural contributions but they find it hard to expand into newer, non-traditional roles such as investment-related activities of the Board.
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Papers by Johanna Weststar