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The impact of childhood on success in adulthood has been much researched. This paper discusses how parental expectations, social class, childhood experiences and gender influenced the career success of disabled people. For respondents with congenital disabilities, disability was perceived as a primary factor influencing parental expectations, but those with acquired disabilities felt it was gender. Social class played a significant part in all respondents' childhood socialisation and parental expectations. Some experienced deprivation and trauma as children, encouraging them to master future life events. The findings highlight the importance of childhood socialisation to the career success of disabled people.

Looks at the effect of modern empowerment policies on middle management. The transition of middle managers from technical experts to coaches, and the position at the sharpest point of conflict between senior management and employees, means that empowerment often requires middle management to implement a policy which threatens their own jobs. Based on 28 management interviews and five focus groups held within two large UK organizations between 1995‐1996, this research seeks to to answer three central questions: How does empowerment affect middle managers? What coping mechanisms do they use? What are the implications for the organizations? The results show that, in line with previous literature, managers are resisting empowerment policies to some extent. However, the added fear of redundancy among middle managers means that they are, to varying extents, beginning to "act" their compliance to empowerment affecting the ultimate success of such initiatives.

Networking is increasingly being seen as a crucial skill associated with career success. Presents the findings of a study into the attitudes towards networking of a sample of women from the UK, Spain and the USA. A prior questionnaire‐based study of members' needs, perceptions and expectations with the European Women's Management Development Network suggested some cross‐cultural differences in networking attitudes and behaviours. In order to investigate these further, the questionnaire used was further developed and distributed to women's networks within the USA, UK and Spain. The results indicate differences between the three countries in terms of a whole range of networking issues, leading to the categorization of American women as instrumentalists, UK women as developers, and Spanish women as socialites. Discusses the importance of developing a further understanding of networking practices and motives across cultures and suggests further research.

Research into stress among teachers in the UK has indicated gender
differences relating to the levels and types of stress experienced. The
results of a study employing two types of measurement: semi‐structured
interviews and an in‐depth postal questionnaire of 1,790 teachers is
reported. The study focused on: the different career patterns of male
and female teachers; the respective levels of education; the
distribution in primary and secondary schools; and acquisition of
incentive allowances; and the under‐representation of women at
managerial levels. The results revealed that female teachers are not
realising the levels of seniority, salary and responsibility of their
male colleagues, and that levels of stress and satisfaction differ
according to gender. Of major importance was the finding that both male
and female teachers are reporting higher levels of stress symptoms than
those of comparable occupational groups.

Participants from two samples ( n = 31 human resources staff, n = 36 teachers) rated the extent to which they believed varying levels of a pre-defined stressor influenced positive affect, negative affect, and work performance. Participants then carried personal digital assistants for five working days, and provided data on levels of the pre-defined stressor and on momentary negative and positive affect. For both samples, momentary negative affect was more strongly associated with stressors for those participants who believed stressors caused them to feel greater negative affect. For both samples too, the association between participants' momentary negative affect and average levels of stressors across the working week was moderated by beliefs concerning stressors' impact on work performance.

Homecare workers provide essential physical, social and emotional support to growing numbers of older people with dementia in the UK. Although it is acknowledged that the work can sometimes be demanding, some homecare workers regularly 'go the extra mile' for service users, working above and beyond the usual remit of the job. This form of voluntarism has been interpreted as an expression of an essentially caring nature, but also as the product of a work environment structured to tacitly endorse the provision of unpaid labour. This paper draws on a qualitative study of what constitutes 'good' homecare for older people with dementia. Using homecare workers' reflexive diaries (n = 11) and interviews with homecare workers (n = 14) and managers (n = 6), we explore manifestations of, and motivations for, homecare workers going the extra mile in their everyday work. We describe three modes of voluntary labour based on these accounts which we characterise as affective, performative and pragmatic. Our study highlights the complex relationships between job satisfaction, social benefit and commercial gain in the homecare work sector. Further research is needed to define the full range of affective and technical skills necessary to deliver good homecare, and to ensure that homecare work is appropriately credited.