Current Sociology

Please welcome our Sociologist of the Month for September 2024, Aysegül Akdemir (Bahçesehir University, Turkey). Her article for Current Sociology ‘Put me on to a male agent’: Emotional labor and performing gender in call centers is Free Access this month.

Aysegül Akdemir

Could you please tell us about yourself? How did you come to your field of study?

A. Akdemir: I am a qualitative sociologist who is interested in the intersections of gender, identity and emotions. My previous research focused on Alevi community in Turkey and in diaspora, aiming to understand the dynamics of transnational identity building and activism. Later on my focus has expanded to gender identity in the institutional context such as associations and work places. Currently, I am leading a project on emotional labour in academia, particularly how emotional labour is performed according to gender, merit and university type. Hence I am very excited to get the chance to explore academics’ experiences that remain invisible, basically our own stories.

What prompted you to research the area of your article, “‘Put me on to a male agent’: Emotional labor and performing gender in call centers”?

A. Akdemir: I became interested in this topic after being part of a project on employees’ job satisfaction in Turkish call centres. This study revealed that lack of job satisfaction resulted from not only unfavourable material conditions but also from the emotional exhaustion. ‘Customer is always right’ culture perpetuates gender norms about women’s passivity, especially in feminised jobs. Women who work in jobs that require intense emotional labour may end up internalising this passivity. So I wanted to explore the topic further from a qualitative angle and focus on the experiences of both male and female workforce to grasp the gender differences.

What do you see as the key findings of your article?

A. Akdemir: My contribution in this study is to show that gender is not a solid category but works in fluidity through constant performances in relation to social and cultural norms. Gender relations in the service sector are more complex than the stereotypical interaction between aggressive male customer and passive female agent. Focusing on doing and undoing gender perspective allowed me to see these fine lines. I have found that female call centre workers can undo gender more easily by displaying agency, assertiveness and competence which empowers them in a stressful work context.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

A. Akdemir: Emotions are gaining more importance and visibility in work life as well as in academic studies. People are becoming more aware of the nonmaterial aspects of work which is highly gendered and invisible, thus unpaid and unappreciated. I think further studies in the field of emotional labour can increase our awareness of these dimensions of work. We should be able to identify and name emotional labour and see that this is a commodified yet unpaid aspect of work. This awareness can encourage mechanisms to deal with the stress and burnout in jobs that require extensive emotional labour, such as sales, customer service, teaching etc.