Empowerment through work: the cases of disabled individuals and low-skilled women workers on the US–Mexican border

Abstract

This article discusses workers at two organizations: one employing disabled individuals and another employing low-skilled Mexican-American women. Workers at both organizations show positive effects from employment, including having increased self-efficacy and self-esteem, valuing work as a source of income and personal growth, as well as developing a sense of community. These perceptions contrast sharply with statements presented about how they viewed themselves and their abilities before working in these organizations. Through comparisons between these two sets of experiences, we show how individuals draw meaning, dignity, self-esteem, and empowerment from work.

Keywords:

• Latinas
• low-skilled labor
• self-efficacy
• self-esteem
• sheltered workshops
• community-based organizations

Acknowledgements

This project was a collaborative effort that involved the work of many people. Laura Guerrero directed a group of undergraduate students from the College of Business Administration at at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), who conducted the surveys, recorded the conversations, and transcribed the interviews at Trabajadoras. The 196 pages of interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using Nvivo 8. Alma Hernandez listened to the audio files, coded, and retranslated them when necessary. Hernandez and Castañeda selected the participants’ quotes to use for the section on Trabajadoras. Castañeda directed a group of eight students who conducted the interviews in Star Corporation at the invitation of UTEP’s Center for Civic Engagement. Aileen Cabral and Eliza Cortes were members of this group and helped to further clean, code, and analyze the transcribed data and wrote preliminary results for Star Corporation. Castañeda selected the quotes from Star Corporation and organized the article. Casey Chiappetta wrote sections of, revised, and prepared the article for submission.

The authors thank Azuri Gonzalez and Jennifer M. Lujan at the Center of Civic Engagement at the University of Texas at El Paso for their help throughout the process working with Star Corporation. Finally, they thank the management and employees at both sites for answering questions, and all of the student researchers who helped conduct the surveys and interviews. The article was presented at the American Sociological Association 2012 meetings in New York, USA, the Society for the Study of Social Problems 2016 meeting in Denver, and at American University’s Institute on Disability and Public Policy in 2016; the authors thank discussants and the audience for comments. For feedback on different versions of this article the authors thank: Kate Caldwell, Ian Clark, Derrick L. Cogburn, Marlese Durr, Arne L. Kalleberg, Robert MacKenzie, Michelle Newton Francis, Katherine Perez Enriquez, Elizabeth Smiley, Filippo Trevisan, and Gloria Young. All errors and interpretations are the authors’ own.