Guide to Graduate School Funding

For graduate students who are new to
academia and are as befuddled by the
grant-writing process as I was, I hope the
information contained is this guide will be
of help to you. There is money out there
for all kinds of projects. The key is to
market your project accordingly.

Grant
Proposals
AAUW, NSEP, and NSF-DDRI

Reena Patel, Ph.D.
www.working-the-nightshift.com

During the course of research and writing for Working the Night Shift: Women in
India‘s Call Center Industry, I raised approximately $80,000 in funding from
sources such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Security
Education Program (NSEP and also known as the Boren Fellowship), and the
American Association of University Women (AAUW).

As a graduate student, grant-writing was a mystery to me and I often wished I
could find samples of successful grants proposals. Yet to ask for another person‘s
grant proposal was the equivalent of asking them their salary—taboo subject, but
one that would be quite useful when competing for funding.

For students who would like samples of grant proposals that received funding, this
document contains: 1) AAUW, NSEP, and NSF-DDRI proposals I wrote as a
Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin; 2) Suggestions on grant-
writing from Professor Talbot; and 3) List of the various funding sources I drew
from.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them on the Facebook
Book Page or email me at reena@working-the-nightshift.com.

Best of luck on grant-writing!

Reena Patel, Ph.D.
January 9, 2011

Grant-Writing Suggestions
By Professor Cynthia Talbot

1) Tailor your proposal for each funding agency. If possible, learn something about the agency and
its objectives. Find out whatever you can about the composition of the panel of reviewers for a
particular grant competition -- i.e., will they all be in your discipline or share your area focus?
Are there a series of steps in the review process, with different types of reviewers? Adjust your
proposal with the audience in mind! Do not use discipline-specific jargon that is
incomprehensible to others, if it is an interdisciplinary competition. Do not presume detailed
knowledge of South Asia, if all of the reviewers are not South Asia specialists.

2) Allow yourself plenty of time. Try to get samples of successful proposals to that particular
funding agency and study them carefully. Circulate drafts of your own proposal to as many
people as you can for critcal comments. Write and rewrite until the proposal is as perfect as you
can get it. Apply to as many agencies as possible.

3) Carefully follow the guidelines specified by the particular funding agency. Make sure you have
clearly discussed all the questions or apects of the proposed project that are mentioned in the
application form. You may jeopardise your chances otherwise, since failure to follow guidelines
is a simple way to eliminate proposals from the pool. It is helpful if you can organize your
argument under the topics suggested or highlight phrases that address their concerns. Do not
exceed page limits.

4) Remember that the reviewers are over-worked volunteers -- they may be reading up to 200
proposals within a very short period of time, for no compensation whatsoever but out of a sense
of obligation to the profession. Make it easy for them by being as clear and neat as possible. Do
not expect the reviewer to expend a lot of effort in understanding you. Extend them the courtesy
of turning in a nicely printed and proofed product that is legible. Do not try their patience in any
way, for example, by using tiny fonts or reducing margins. Don't take forever getting to the point.

4) Remember that it is your responsibility to sell yourself and your proposed project. You must
convince the reviewer both that your project is significant and feasible, and also that you are
qualified to carry it out. Hence, do not be overly modest in describing yourself nor the potential

Grant-Writing Suggestions (Continued)
By Professor Cynthia Talbot

contributions of the project -- within reasonable limits, of course. If you are not confident, why
should they be? Try to convey a sense of enthusiasm for the project.

6.) Put considerable effort into conceptualizing your project. It should have a central problem(s) or
question(s) that it is attempting to answer. These should be clearly and consistently posed
throughout the proposal. Be focused!

7) You should demonstrate awareness of previous scholarship on the topic and discuss your project's
relation to it. Also situate the approach you will take within the pertinent methodological and
theoretical literature. (However, do not bite off more theory than you can handle. This is worse
than no theory at all.)

8) Contextualize your proposed project as broadly as you can, in terms of its possible contributions.
What are its implications for other fields and disciplines? The more, the better.

9) Present a plan of work in as specific terms as possible. Say where you are going to go, what kinds
of data you will obtain, how you will obtain it, and how you propose to analyze it. Make sure
your timetable is feasible. It is important that reviewers not only feel that your project is
important but also that it is doable.

10) In connection with the point above, be sure to mention aspects of your previous training,
experience, or research that relates to the proposed project. If you've been to the site you are
proposing to conduct research at before, say so. If you have already established contacts or
written a paper or thesis on the subject, say so. You need to establish your own credentials to
carry out the work.

11) The only concrete basis that the reviewer has for estimating the quality of your future
contributions is your proposal. If you can write an interesting and convincing grant proposal, you
will probably be able to produce an interesting and convincing thesis. Be logical, succinct, and
exciting!!

Ph.D. Funding Sources For
Working the Night Shift

2007 Romero Award $250 Article Writing
2007 Asian Speciality Group - Student Paper Award $250 Article Writing
2006 QSRG Award - Qualitative Research Paper Award $500 Article Writing
2005 APCG - Harry & Shirley Bailey Paper Award $150 Article Writing $1,150
2007 NSEP Travel Grant $790 Conference $
2007 Geography and the Environment Travel Grant $350 Conference $
2007 Meyerson Travel Grant $500 Conference $
2007 Professional Development Award $250 Conference $
2006 AAUW - Austin $1,000 Conference $
2003 Ward Fellowship $1,000 Conference $
2003 Women’s and Gender Studies Travel Grant $250 Conference $
2003 Travel Grant from Professor Paul Adams $200 Conference $
2008 Geography and the Environment Travel Grant $300 Conference $ $6,910
2007 AAUW - National $20,000 Dissertation Writing
2007 University Continuing Fellowship $19,000 Dissertation Writing $39,000
2007 NSF $11,758 Research
2007 AAUW - Austin $1,000 Research
2005 IEF Scholarship $1,300 Research
2004 NSEP - David L. Boren Fellowship $18,100 Research $32,158
2007 David Bruton, Jr. Graduate Fellowship $1,000 School
2007 Geography - Research Assistance $250 School
2005 David Bruton, Jr. Graduate Fellowship $1,000 School
2004 Graduate Student Leadership Award $200 School $2,450
TOTAL $81,668

AAUW Dissertation Fellowship - Abstract

The global mainstream media characterizes the IT sector, and transnational call centers in
particular, as catalysts for social change in India. Yet, the emergence of this industry is not
shifting patriarchal relations of power in a significant way due to social and spatial constraints on
women‘s mobility in the urban nightscape. Specific to call center employment, mobility is
important because it requires night shift workers. For a woman in India to be out at this hour is
generally considered improper and unsafe. However, women are participating in this industry
and corporate strategies, such as the use of private shuttle vans to transport women to and from
work in the middle of the night, reflect the ways in which both the industry and its female
employees negotiate a presence in the public sphere. Based on dissertation fieldwork currently
taking place in Mumbai, India, I argue that the insertion of women into the urban nightscape, via
the night shift requirements of the global economy, is met with covert resistance. Although there
are no visible barriers such as ―men only‖ signs written into public space, women‘s bodies
continue to be marked as a site of transgression.

AAUW Dissertation Fellowship
Personal Statement
Include a statement of your career plans and goals. Discuss any special circumstances that have affected the
chronology of your career and the achievement of your goals. In this statement, please describe your commitment to
helping other women, as well as your work as a teacher and mentor.

Goals & Special Circumstances

The AAUW Fellowship will allow me to write, full-time, a dissertation that I will seek to
publish into a book. I intend to use this research to pursue a career in the area of science and
technology policy. Over the long-term my goal is to advise both governmental and corporate entities
on gender-based linkages in technology, a critical issue as manufacturing expands in traditional
societies.
I have an eight year gap between my bachelor‘s degree and return to graduate school. During
this time I lived in Boston, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Ghana as I followed opportunities to further
my professional and personal growth. For instance, by 1998 I was a Product Manager and Founding
Member of Island Partners Hawaii, a Destination Management Company in Hawaii.

Commitment to Women

A key formative event that shaped my decision to focus on gender issues came from
undergraduate coursework in women‘s studies. It is through these classes that I began to articulate
how segregation and lack of equal status, particularly in the community I was raised in, shaped my
experience of the world. From this coursework my commitment to women, and women‘s studies,
unfolded in four ways. First, I served as a volunteer with Sister Offering Support. This organization
is committed to supporting women affected by prostitution and in 1998 I was awarded ―Volunteer of
the Year‖ for my work in outreach services.
Second, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana I learned how restrictions on women‘s
mobility intersects with globalization and IT development. As an IT volunteer, I lived in the Upper
West, a remote region deemed a poverty zone by the Ghanaian government. Disparities of every
kind were to be found. In fact, the entire region, approximately 5,500 square miles, had only one
public library. My project contributed to narrowing the digital divide by bringing internet access and
computer classes to Wa, capital of the Upper West. However, the level of access one had to such
services and how IT was used operated on a gendered paradigm. Women primarily participated in
computer literacy classes with hopes of obtaining a secretarial position in the town. In contrast, men
primarily used the internet to obtain admission and funding to universities abroad. In addition, less
than 10% of the customer base was women. Their lack of transport, in the form of a bicycle or
moped, and the evening office hours were cited as reasons for not participating.
Third, I pursued thesis research on the re-enforcement of tradition gender roles in the IT
sector. A case study method focusing on female engineers in India served as a framework for the
study. I presented the findings in a plenary session at the 2003 Women in IT conference held in India
and my research was published in Information Technologies and International Development, a peer-
reviewed journal published by the MIT Press.
Finally, in 2004-2005 I participated in the UT-Austin Mentor program. This voluntary
program gave me the opportunity to mentor freshmen women. In particular, I provided guidance in
areas such career development, adjusting to college life, and dealing with issues of harassment.
During this time, I also worked as a teacher‘s assistant for multiple sections of Intro. to Human
Geography. Through these classes I mentored women to pursue summer internships. Currently, as a
Ph.D. candidate in Mumbai, I am mentoring women who want to pursue graduate school education
in the United States.

Proposal

Introduction and Disciplinary Significance
In a recent review, Tuan (2004) contends that ―cultural geography remains almost wholly
daylight geography‖ (Tuan 2004,730) and that more attention needs to be given to the ―after
hours.‖ This contention makes particular sense as the ―second shift,‖ namely a night shift labor
force, emerges in the global economy. The hyper-growth of the transnational call center industry
in India is the quintessential example of this nightscape. The night shift requirement of this
industry also intersects with the spatial and temporal construction of gender.

The nightscape is primarily an exclusive, male domain. For instance, the Indian 1948 Factories
Act states: no women shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the
hours of 6 A.M. and 7 P.M. (Office of the Labour Commissioner 2006). Only as of March, 2005
was this act amended. With the infusion of educated, middle and upper-class women into the
urban nightscape, via call center employment, the nightscape brings forth class and gender
connotations that mark women‘s bodies as sites of transgression (Domosh 1998) – aka ―working
the night shift.‖ In general, women who go out at night are associated with prostitution and
questionable moral values. Such processes provoke new questions about the spatial construction
of social identities.

In this context, I examine how the global demand for 24-hour workers is re-configuring women‘s
physical, temporal, social, and economic mobility because of the night shift requirement of call
center employment. Another key concern is how households respond to changes in women‘s
mobility. In particular, I examine the variety of spaces occupied by women as a result of call
center employment to articulate how notions of gender are inscribed in the nightscape.

This research draws from globalization discourse and feminist geography, and utilizes qualitative
research methods to investigate the ways in which space, place, and mobility of women working
in call centers shapes their identity at a variety of scales. In addition, the social and cultural
norms that mediate women‘s mobility are linked to broader processes, such as the rise of middle
class and economic globalization. I argue that notions of ―middle-class morality‖ mark women‘s
bodies as the site of family honor, purity, and chastity (Nast 1998). This in turn has significant
consequences when thinking about the urban nightscape. For example, Ashini1, a 23 year old
employee, states that her father‘s response to call center employment was ―call center job equals
call girl job.‖ Kavita goes on to argue that family concern for young women working the night
shift is less about physical safety and more about how a woman‘s presence in the urban
nightscape will negatively impact a family‘s reputation. ―What will people think?‖ is a common
response women received from family members expressing hesitancy about night shift
employment.

My project addresses gaps in the literature by expanding the nine-to-five landscape of
geography. It also contributes to women‘s studies by investigating how the global demand for
night shift female workers is reshaping, or perhaps reinforcing, gendered norms of mobility. For
instance, mobility and access to public space is particularly important in terms of call center
employment because it requires physical mobility in terms of transportation to and from work

1
All participant names have been changed to protect the identity of the individual

Proposal (Continued)

and temporal mobility in the form of Indian women working at night to coincide with the office
hours of their overseas customers.

For a woman to be out at night is generally considered improper and unsafe. However, women
are participating in this industry, and corporate strategies, such as the use of private shuttle vans
to transport women to and from work in the middle of the night, reflect the ways in which both
the industry and its female employees negotiate a presence in the public sphere. In light of these
dynamics, my project addresses the following research questions: 1) How does the global
demand for night shift workers re-codify women‘s physical and temporal mobility? 2) What
spatial and temporal barriers do women face, both in the household and urban public space? 3)
How does call center employment translate into social and economic mobility?

Theoretical Approach and Research Design
A qualitative research methodology based on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and
surveys are used to gather data for this project. The methodology I use draws from the grounded
theory approach by Strauss and Corbin (1997). In contrast to hypothesis testing, which is based
on comparing findings to a predetermined set of outcomes, grounded theory is an inductive
approach in which new findings emerge based on an ongoing interplay between collecting and
analyzing data.

I will interview approximately 50 female call center employees and will seek a range of
employees from married versus single, living at home versus living in a hostel or company dorm,
and newly hired employees versus long term employees (one year or longer). A snowball
sampling technique is used to identify individuals to interview. This technique is based upon
asking interviewees to identify other potential research participants (Cresswell 1998). Although
this method is not a random sample, it will allow me to gain in-depth knowledge of the
experiences of call center employees. Interviews will also be conducted with approximately 20-
25 family members of call center employees and 10-15 managers, former employees, and
government officials who are involved in IT policy. This sample will provide a different
understanding of how various actors inform and impact the experiences of female night shift
workers. In addition, newspaper and television accounts relating to women‘s participation in the
call center industry are collected in order to assess how night shift workers are portrayed in the
media and community reaction to this relatively new industry.

The interviews I seek to conduct, in combination with participant observation and media
accounts of the industry, will serve as the foundation for uncovering the spatial livelihoods of
call center employees. As of August, 2006, 43 interviews consisting of employees, managers,
and family members, were conducted. In addition, 180 surveys were collected and participant
observation was conducted in two call centers as well as various locales that employees frequent.
The Ethnograph, a qualitative data analysis software program, will be used for automated coding,
text search and retrieval, and pattern discernment.

Research Site
Dissertation fieldwork is taking place in Mumbai, Chennai, and Ahmadabad from January 2006
to March 2007. Mumbai and Chennai are rapidly expanding call center hubs. Although both are
major cities in India, Mumbai is considered a ―fast,‖ progressive city, whereas Chennai is viewed

Proposal (Continued)

as far more conservative, particularly in terms of gender relations. Investigating night shift
employment in Chennai, as a contrast to Mumbai, will provide an understanding of the role
space and place has in reshaping women‘s mobility.

Ahmadabad, a tier two city, was selected for this project because call centers from major cities,
such as Mumbai, are actively recruiting women from this tier two city. Call centers are
expanding to tier two cities because human resources in major cities are exhausted and the wages
in tier two cities are lower. By investigating night shift employment in major cities and a tier two
city, my project will uncover the similarities and differences in the social, spatial, and economic
mobility experienced by women who migrate to major cities for call center employment versus
those who remain in a tier two city to pursue call center employment.

Conclusion
A local U.S. workforce gone global now operates on a 24-hour timeframe that shifts the work
space and work time of customer service employees worldwide. Adam (2002) would label this
dynamic a ―colonization of time‖ whereby the western clock is commoditized, set as the
standard, and exported throughout the world (Adam 2002,21). This transformation of time into a
global resource appears to expand some women‘s economic opportunities as well as recodify
gendered norms of mobility and access to public space. At the same time, preliminary findings
suggest that regimes of surveillance and control remain firmly entrenched and continue to inhibit
the social and spatial mobility of female call center employees.

The result of my research will be a dissertation that I plan to defend in May, 2008. Initial
findings will be presented at the December, 2006 Women in Technology conference held in
Chidambaram, India and the April, 2007 Association of American Geographer conference held
in Chicago. In regards to financial need, I have accumulated $71,978.15 in school loans. The
AAUW fellowship would allow me to write my dissertation and graduate without incurring
further debt.

Reference List
Adam, Barbara. 2002. The gendered time politics of globalization: Of shadowlands and elusive
justice. Feminist Review 3, no. 70: 3-30.
Cresswell, Tim. 1998. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Domosh, Mona. 1998. Those 'gorgeous incongruities': Polite politics and public space on the
streets of... Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88, no. 2: 209-27.
Nast, Heidi. 1998. Unsexy geographies. Gender, Place, and Culture 5: 191-206.
Office of the Labour Commissioner. 1948 Factories Act. Retrieved 15 August 2006. [available
from http://labour.delhigovt.nic.in/act/html_ifa/fa1948_index.html.].
Strauss, Anselm L. and Juliet M. Corbin. 1997. Grounded theory in practice. Thousand Oaks:
Sage Publications.
Tuan, Yi Fu. 2004. Cultural Geography: Glances Backward and Forward. Annals of the
Association of American Geographers 94, no. 4: 729-34.

Timeline for Research

My research is in the process of being carried out in the four stages discussed below.

Stage One (January 2006 to April 2006)

 Networked with existing contacts to pre-test interview questions and to obtain entry into
call centers.
 Attended the Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research (PUKAR) Gender and
Space Conference. The Gender and Space Project was created in 2001 to investigate how
the cityscape of Mumbai is gendered in ways that regulate women‘s mobility in public
space.

Stage Two (May 2006 to November 2006)

 Conduct structured and semi-structured interviews with employees and participant
observation in call centers. In-depth interviews are conducted outside the call center so as
to alleviate concerns or apprehension that findings from my interviews will be divulged
to the employing organization.
 Interview family members of call center employees, managers, former employees, and
government officials who are involved in IT policy.
 Collect newspaper and television accounts relating to women‘s participation in the call
center industry.

Stage Three (December 2006 to March 2007)

 Wrap up interviews in Mumbai
 Present initial findings at the December 2006 Women in Technology conference held in
Chidambaram, India and the March 2007 Association of American Geographer (AAG)
conference held in San Francisco.
 Network with editors at AAG to submit book proposal for publication

Stage Four (April 2007 to March 2008)

 Analyze data and write up dissertation to defend by March 2008

The proposed chapter outline for my dissertation is:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Theorizing Gender, Mobility, and Globalization

Chapter 3: All Eyes are Watching: Regimes of Surveillance and Control

Chapter 4: What Will People Think? The Mobile Woman and Middle-Class Morality

Chapter 5: Conclusion

NSEP Essay

Gender and Technology
The Emergence of Call Centers in Mumbai, India

Since the 1980s, the information technology (IT) sector in India has grown exponentially

and extensive research has been done on the role of women in IT (Fountain2, Kelkar & Nathan3,

Varma4). The recent emergence of call centers in India has gained considerable attention in the

mainstream media, but academically this area has been relatively unexplored. Unlike India‘s

engineering field, in which women‘s lack of equitable participation has been thoroughly

documented (Parikh & Sukhatme5,6, Patel7), the customer service positions which serve as the

basis of call center operations are primarily held by women. Yet the majority of executive

positions are held by men, suggesting the existence of occupational segregation. Although the

transnational aspects of call center operations are quite unique, and the IT sector is considered to

be a catalyst for social change, it appears that a re-assertion of traditional gender divisions is

occurring in this new and emerging industry.

I am requesting NSEP support to conduct dissertation fieldwork on the relationship

between the economic mobility and physical/temporal mobility of Indian women working in call

centers. Despite the globalizing aspects of call centers – as exampled by a Delta Airlines

2
Fountain, J. (2000). Constructing the information society: women, information technology, and design. Technology
in Society, 22, 45-62.
3
Kelkar, G., & Nathan, D. (2002). Gender relations and technological change in Asia. Current Sociology, 50(3),
427-441.
4
Varma, R. (2002). Women in information technology: A case study of undergraduate students in a minority-
serving institution. Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society, 22 (4), 274-282.
5
Parikh, P., & Sukhatme, S. (1992). Women engineers in India. Bombay, India: Indian Institute of Technology,
Department of Mechanical Engineering.
6
Parikh, P., & Sukhatme, S. (2002). Women in the engineering profession in India: The Millennium Scenario.
Mumbai, India: Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering.
7
Patel, R. The re-enforcement of traditional gender roles in the technology sector: case study of female engineers in
India. Unpublished masters thesis, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 2003.

NSEP Essay (Continued)

customer in Chicago talking to a Delta travel agent in India about flight reservations to London –

little attention is given to its impact on geographical concerns in relation to gender issues. The

focus has primarily been on corporations moving back-office work overseas and the subsequent

loss of U.S. jobs. This research is important because, as Massey8 explains, ―…control over

mobility, both reflects and re-enforces power‖ (p. 150). Applying Massey‘s argument to call

centers, do the control and mobility held by multinational corporations in the form of call center

operations empower women or maintain the status quo?

For example, the mobility of women in the case of call centers is linked to the demand for

night shift (midnight-8am) workers. For a woman in India to be out at this hour is considered

improper and unsafe. To circumvent this, companies offer shuttle-van transport. While at a

micro-level this could be viewed as a protective measure for which multinationals should be

applauded, at the macro-level this may serve as a basis for maintaining the mobility of women

within a confined context because such transport is limited to the functionality it provides the

employing organization. Yet one must also consider that call centers offer women the

opportunity to work in relatively high-paying jobs that would otherwise not be available. By

examining this industry within the framework of globalization, economic development, and

gender equity, I will investigate whether having the opportunity to work in a call center or the

presence of a call center itself changes the control women have over their mobility in a larger

context, both at the local and global level.

8
Massey, D. (1996). Space, place, and gender. London: Blackwell Publishers.

NSEP Essay (Continued)

Fieldwork in Mumbai will be conducted as follows:

 December 2004 - February 2005:
o Surveys will be designed during Fall 2004 and brought to India for review/revision
 Dr. Pravina Parikh, Mechanical Engineering Professor of IIT and Principal
Investigator for the 1992 and 2002 studies on female engineers in India, has
agreed to serve as an advisor for my research. Dr. Parikh designed and
analyzed the surveys of more than 2,700 women throughout India.
o Introduction to call center contacts
 Mr. P. Venugopal, Director of International Business for the Software
Technology Parks of India, expresses support for this research and has agreed
to introduce me to contacts of multiple call centers
o Attend the December 2004 Women in Technology (WIT) conference in India. I
served as a plenary session speaker and chaired a technical session for the 2003
conference. Participation in this conference is critical to gaining further contacts in
the industry.
 March 2005 - September 2005
o Conduct focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 75 women and men
o Obtain permission from three call centers to conduct participant observation
o Collect 100 surveys

Due to the participant observation aspect of this research, the language component is

essential to the success of this study. Even though call center operations are conducted in

English, discussions offline are often conducted in Hindi. I am able to understand Gujarati, a

related language, but am not conversant. However, my basic understanding will allow me to

learn Hindi much faster than a non-native speaker.

NSEP Security Essay

India, with a population exceeding one billion people, is the largest democracy in the

world and home to more than 300 languages. It is experiencing sweeping changes internally and

is embroiled in regional turmoil that has become more pronounced over the past few years. The

nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities of both India and Pakistan heighten this tension. Beyond

the military threat, the potential for cyber-terrorism in relation to India‘s IT sector is a significant

threat to U.S. national security interests. Fortune 500 companies, from IBM to Delta Airlines, are

reliant on call centers and over the past five years various data processing functions such as

inputting medical transcripts, credit card applications/billing, and even data maintenance of the

New York City subway schedule have been transferred to India. The offshore maintenance of

confidential health and economic data along with the transportation information of a major U.S.

airline leaves us extremely vulnerable to cyber-terrorism. Also, the overwhelming growth of

international linkages in the sphere of customer service marks a new change in global economic

development and could pose a threat to our economic security.

Given these potentially serious challenges to our national security interests, it is essential

that the U.S. have citizens who are able to understand the culture and language of India. The

opportunity to conduct dissertation fieldwork in India would allow me to study important issues

surrounding gender and technology, and I seek to use this research to pursue a career in the area

of science and technology policy. Over the long-term my goal is to advise both governmental

and corporate entities on gender-based linkages in technology, a critical issue as manufacturing

expands in traditional societies.

NSF-DDRI
Project Summary

Intellectual Merit

The global mainstream media characterizes the Information Technology (IT) sector, and
transnational call centers in particular, as catalysts for social change in India. Yet there is limited
evidence of IT contributing to a dramatic transformation of Indian society in terms of gender
relations. In particular, the night shift requirement of the call center industry provides a new lens
upon which to investigate the spatial and temporal construction of gender. The nightscape is
primarily an exclusive, male domain that often represents danger for women. An infusion of
educated, middle and upper-class women into the urban nightscape, via call center employment,
brings forth class and gender connotations that provoke new questions about the spatial construction
of social identities.

In this context, I examine how the global demand for 24-hour workers is re-configuring
women‘s physical, temporal, social, and economic mobility because of the night shift requirement of
call center employment. Another key concern is how households respond to changes in women‘s
mobility. By investigating the variety of spaces occupied by women as a result of call center
employment, I articulate how notions of gender are inscribed in the urban nightscape. Drawing from
globalization discourse and feminist geography, my project will address the following research
questions:

1) How does the global demand for night shift workers re-codify women‘s physical and
temporal mobility?
2) What spatial and temporal barriers, as well as opportunities, do women face both in the
household and urban public space?
3) How does call center employment translate into social and economic mobility or
immobility?

Research will take place in two major cities, Mumbai and Chennai, as well as tier two cities
such as Ahmadabad and Jaipur. Qualitative research methods, such as participant observation and
structured/semi-structured interviews, are used in this study and I also collect media accounts of the
industry. The interviews I seek to conduct, in combination with participant observation and media
accounts of the industry, will serve as the foundation for uncovering the spatial livelihoods of call
center employees.

Broader Impacts

The overwhelming growth of international linkages in the sphere of customer service marks a
significant shift in global telecommunications and development. It is also transforming the economy
of India‘s major cities and tier two cities. Fortune 500 companies, from IBM to Delta Airlines, are
reliant on call centers and various data processing functions such as inputting medical transcripts and
credit card applications/billing have been transferred to India. The offshore maintenance of
confidential health and economic data along with the transportation information of a major U.S.
airline brings forth new global security concerns such as cyber-terrorism.

NSF-DDRI
Project Summary (Continued)

The opportunity to conduct fieldwork in India‘s call centers allows for an increased
understanding of the growth and future direction of this relatively new industry. And by focusing on
the global demand for night shift workers, my research examines women‘s employment opportunities
beyond the traditional 9 - 5 timescape. At the same time, it uncovers how gendered norms of mobility
and access to public space impact women‘s participation in the formal economy of a developing
nation. This serves as a foundation for understanding the ways in which women are being integrated
into the dominant, and arguably masculine, forces that are shaping the IT revolution.

NSF-DDRI Proposal

Doctoral Dissertation Research:
Working the Night Shift: Women’s Employment in the Transnational Call Center Industry

Project Description

In a recent review, Tuan (2004) contends that ―cultural geography remains almost wholly
daylight geography‖ (Tuan 2004,730) and that more attention needs to be given to the ―after hours.‖
This contention makes particular sense as the ―second shift,‖ namely a night shift labor force,
emerges in the global economy. The hyper-growth of the transnational call center industry in India is
the quintessential example of this nightscape. The nightscape is primarily an exclusive, male domain
that often represents danger for women. With the infusion of educated, middle and upper-class
women into the urban nightscape, via transnational call center employment, the nightscape also
brings forth class and caste connotations that mark women‘s bodies as sites of transgression
(Cresswell 1996; Domosh 1998b) – aka ―working the night shift.‖ Such processes evoke new
questions about the spatial construction of social identities.

I propose to examine how the demand for night shift workers in India is re-configuring
women‘s physical, temporal, social, and economic mobility. Another key concern is how households
respond to changes in women‘s mobility. In particular, I examine the variety of spaces occupied by
women as a result of call center employment to articulate how notions of gender are inscribed in the
nightscape. This research draws from globalization discourses and feminist geography, and utilizes
qualitative research methods, such as participant observation and in-depth interviews, to investigate
the ways in which space, place, and mobility of women working in transnational call centers shapes
their identity at a variety of scales. In addition, the social and cultural norms that mediate women‘s
mobility are linked to broader processes, such as the rise of middle class and the role of economic
globalization in the transformation of Indian society. I argue that notions of ―middle-class morality‖
mark women‘s bodies as the site of family honor, purity, and chastity (Bondi and Domosh 1998;
Bondi and Rose 2003; Nagar 1998; Nast 1998). This in turn has significant consequences when
thinking about the urban nightscape.

Mobility and access to public space in the urban domain is particularly important in terms of
call center employment because it requires physical mobility in terms of transportation to and from
work and temporal mobility in the form of working at night to coincide with the office hours of U.S.-
based customers. For a woman to be out and about in the middle of the night is generally considered
improper and unsafe. However, women are participating in this industry, and corporate strategies,
such as the use of private shuttle vans to transport women to and from work in the middle of the
night, reflect the ways in which both the industry and its female employees negotiate a presence in
urban, public spaces. In light of these dynamics, my project will address the following research
questions: 1) How does the global demand for night shift workers re-codify women‘s physical and
temporal mobility?; 2) What spatial and temporal barriers, as well as opportunities, do women face
both in the household and urban public space?; and 3) How does call center employment translate
into social and economic mobility or immobility?

NSF-DDRI Proposal (Continued)

The emergence of an IT revolution (Castells 2000; Greenspan 2004), in combination with
disparities such as gender inequity and the digital divide, expands the range of feminist geography to
areas such as global technology and development. Currently, extensive research on women‘s
participation, or lack thereof, in the IT sector is available (Fountain 2000; Hafkin and Taggart 2001;
Kelkar, Shrestha, and Nagarjan 2002; Patel and Parmentier 2005; Poster 1988; Webster 1996).
However, despite the globalizing aspects of transnational call center operations – as demonstrated by
a Delta Airlines customer in Chicago talking to a Delta travel agent in India about flight reservations
to London – there is little attention given to its impact on geographical concerns in relation to gender
issues.

Background

Since the late 1990‘s, advances in telecommunications technology combined with the
globalization of IT services have directly contributed to the growth of transnational call center
operations. Fortune 500 companies, from IBM to American Express, have become reliant on
transnational call centers and over the past five years various data processing functions such as
inputting medical transcripts and credit card applications/billing have transferred to India (Economist
2004; Patel 2002; Stitt 2002).Companies are moving call center operations to India because it
provides a cheap, English speaking labor force. For instance, the starting salary for a full-time call
center employee at TYJ Corp1., a top-ten call center in India, is 10,000 rupees per month
(approximately 225USD).

The global processes that fuel the emergence of this industry are embedded in national
policies of both India and the United States. The restructuring of U.S. immigration policy in terms of
reducing the number of H1-B visas, along with the economic downturn of the United States IT
sector, serve as an impetus for companies to offshore what were previously U.S.-based positions
(Rudrappa 2005). Essentially, because the Indian worker cannot migrate to the U.S., the work
migrates to India. The tightening U.S. economy has led companies to offshore not only high wage
engineering positions, but also low-wage call center positions. In this instance, the protectionist
policy of limiting immigration in order to bring economic security to the American worker has
created the opposite effect, as more and more jobs are transferred overseas. However, this trend
should not be exaggerated because Pandit (2005) finds that the actual number of U.S. jobs that have
moved overseas thus far is not significant.

Simultaneously, the emergence of transnational call centers in India is contingent on a
national policy that welcomes the presence of multi-national corporations (MNC‘s). Historically, this
was not the case. After independence, India went from being dubbed the ―British Raj‖ to the ―Permit
Raj‖ (Greenspan 2004). India was considered an impenetrable market because of its unending
bureaucracy, notorious corruption, and protectionist policies that sought to shield India from the
outside economy. This dramatically shifted in 1991 when the government, under Minister Rao,
removed import licensing requirements and sought to undo more than four decades worth of
bureaucracy under the Permit Raj. As of 2002, a decade after the pivotal 1991 reforms, the National
Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) estimates that 336 call centers have


emerged throughout India and as of 2005, approximately 348,000 women and men are working in
this industry (NASSCOM 2002; NASSCOM 2005).

Currently, call center operations locate primarily in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore,
and Hyderabad. These major cities actively compete against one another in order to attract companies
(Patel 2002). In addition, call centers have recently begun to emerge in tier two cities such as
Ahmedabad and Jaipur. Call centers expand to tier two cities because human resources in major
cities are exhausted and the wages in tier two cities are lower. The emergence of call centers in tier
two cities represents a new and important contrast to the current migration of skilled workers to
major cities such as Mumbai. In this instance, instead of workers migrating to Mumbai for call center
employment, the work is now migrating to workers in tier two cities throughout India.

In regards to the gendered aspects of this industry, Kelkar et. al (2002) explain that call
centers in India prefer hiring young, educated women because they are viewed to be more loyal and
compliant in comparison to their male counterparts. Yet the majority of executive positions are held
by men, suggesting the existence of occupational segregation. Singh and Pandey (2005) argue that
women often plateau at mid-level positions while men tend to progress further. This disparity is
linked to men‘s lack of participation, and responsibility, in household labor and childcare.

One gets a glimpse of such segregation in an India Today article (Chengappa and Goyal
2002). The cover story, labeled ―Housekeepers to the World,‖ focused on call centers in India. In
terms of visual presentation, the image on the front cover, along with photo-ops of customer service
workers were primarily young women. Yet photo-ops involving high level positions, such as
Chairman or President, were represented by older men. Within this article, it was the men who were
presented as leaders of the industry and experts in terms of discussing future growth and challenges
surrounding its development. In contrast, the women interviewed were mostly entry-level workers.
The one exception to this was a female vice-president. However, she worked for a company that
trains women on how to be effective customer service representatives, and so she was not in a direct
position of power in terms of owning a call center or serving as an agent for influencing policy
surrounding the development of this industry. The reader gets the sense that women are seen and
heard by distant customers, but are rarely participants in corporate decision-making.

Mirchandani‘s (2004) and Poster‘s (2004) research on call centers suggests a possible shift in
the gendered aspects of call center employment. In the United States women are the majority of call
center employees and this industry is considered to be a ―pink collar‖ field (Bonds n.d.). In contrast,
Poster‘s and Mirchandani‘s study of call centers in New Delhi found that 50% - 70% of the
employees are men. This coincides with a call center I visited in Mumbai in which 60% of the
employees are also men.

Such initial findings contradict the media representation of call center employment in India
as being primarily held by women (Chengappa and Goyal 2002). Unlike maquiladora labor, such as
garment production, which was predominantly female in the United States and remained the same
upon transfer to countries such as Mexico, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, it is unclear if call center
employment will follow a similar path. The idea of a modern-day labor force that goes from female


to male is rare in comparison to the integration of women into historically male-dominated positions
such as clerical work (Boyer 1998; Elias and Carney 2005) and pharmacy (Ehrenreich and
Hochschild 2003; Tanner and Cockerill 1996). Focusing on women‘s mobility in the urban
nightscape provides an understanding of whether spatial and structural barriers impact women‘s
employment opportunities in the call center industry.

In summary, the emergence of transnational call centers is based upon a complex set of local
and global dynamics, as demonstrated by its dependency on national policy as well as its intersection
with gendered notions of a woman‘s place in the urban nightscape. Although considerable attention
is given to this industry by the mainstream media, the focus is primarily on corporations moving
back-office work overseas (Delaney 2003; Economist 2004) and the subsequent loss of U.S. jobs
(Nichols 2004). By investigating how community norms of mobility and spatial access intersect with
the night shift requirement of transnational call centers; my research contributes to new
understandings of women in space.

Disciplinary Significance
Globalization Discourse
Globalization is the subject of criticism and debate both within geography and other
disciplines. Discussion abounds as to whether or not globalization is leading to cultural
homogenization (Appadurai 1996; Cox 1997; Jackson 2003; 2004) or reducing the power of the
nation-state (Agnew 2005; Castells 2000; Mitchell, Marston, and Katz 2003; Sassen 1998; 2000;
2005; Scott 1998). Geographers focus primarily on the political economy of globalization (Rankin
2003a). Traditionally, the focus is on how macro/global processes conflict with and/or impact local
communities (Cox 1997; Harvey 2000; Herod 1997; 2001; Jackson 2004). Although the literature is
vast, this project draws from globalization discourse as it relates to the spatiotemporal landscape and
gender.

The Spatiotemporal Landscape

Harvey (1989) coined the term ―time-space compression‖ to explain the increased mobility
and internationalization of capital in the early 1970's. In recent years, there has been an emergence of
literature focusing on the impact of globalization on time and space (Adam 2002; Katz 2004; Sassen
1998; 2000; 2004; Scott 1998; Sheppard 2002; 2004). Sassen (2000) argues that globalization leads
to the creation of new spatialities and temporalities in which ―economic globalization itself can
already be seen to contain dynamics of both mobility and fixity‖ (Sassen 2000,217). For instance, the
mobility afforded to MNC‘s seeking to offshore their customer service labor force is contingent on
fixed structures at the national level, such as material and technological infrastructure, as well as
national policies that promote, rather than hinder, the expansion of the global economy. Such overlap
and interaction between the global and national, in combination with advances in
telecommunications technology, reshapes the spatiotemporal landscape of globalization.

A local U.S. workforce gone global now operates on a 24-hour timeframe that shifts the work
space and work time of customer service employees worldwide. Twenty five years ago who would
have expected that on any given afternoon an American residing in Texas would dial a 1-800 number


that is instantly re-routed to the suburb of a major Indian city, and at 3a.m. India time, an employee
with a ―neutral‖ accent would answer ―Good Afternoon. American Express, this is Julie speaking‖?
Adam would label this dynamic a ―colonization of time‖ whereby the western clock is
commoditized, set as the standard, and exported throughout the world (Adam 2002,21). This
transformation of time into a global resource is reorganizing an employee‘s identity, neutralizing
accents, and temporally adjusting the normative nine-to-five work schedule. Indeed, the night shift
labor force represents a new level of social and spatial interaction between industrialized and
developing nations.

Gender and Globalization

Geographers investigate the globalization process from the perspective of how the production
of local and global space is not only relational, but also constructed upon social, political, and
economic interactions that remain inherently gendered (Elias and Carney 2005; McDowell et al.
2005; Nagar et al. 2002; Pratt 2004). From the household to the global economy, Haraway‘s (1988)
concept of situated knowledge offers a new way of thinking about globalization. Situated knowledge
rejects notions of detached neutrality and the quest for universal findings (Cope 2002). In fact,
Haraway (1991) argues that the idea of detached neutrality is an attempt by modern science to
perform a ―god-trick‖ by viewing itself as a disembodied Other that can produce objective findings.

This veil of neutrality is problematic because it conceals the complexities of research.
Haraway also uses the concept of vision to explain that subjects which are deemed feminine are not
given sight (Holloway 2004). They are viewed primarily through a lens of being observed, described,
or conquered. Essentially, they become outsiders explained away by a so-called objective, detached,
scientific gaze. Gibson-Graham (1996) offers an interesting perspective on re-envisioning
globalization through the lens of gender. By critiquing the ‗penetration of capital‘ script that frames
workers as rape victims who are powerless to the dominant forces of MNC‘s, they argue that we
need to explore ways of ―making globalization lose its erection‖ (Gibson-Graham 1996,146). Such
analysis reflects Haraway‘s (1988) quest for partial perspective because it re-situates globalization in
a context-specific framework of feminist theory.

Oza (2001) looks at the 1996 Miss World Beauty Pageant in Bangalore from the perspective
of how various scales, such as the gendered body, national politics, and globalization, interact with
and inform each other. She contends that the nation is represented as enclosed and feminine while
globalization is constructed as masculine and free floating. By linking gender to the nation, different
groups in India formulated a critique for or against globalization. Opponents, for instance,
constructed the nation as a symbol of desexualized motherhood that must be protected from the
polluting forces of globalization (i.e. a world pageant). In this case, resistance to globalization is
represents a re-inscription of control and suppression of women‘s sexuality.

Proponents in Oza‘s study argued that the pageant demonstrated to the world that India is an
advanced, liberal nation. Yet even within this framework, the pageant used raising funds for
children‘s causes as a means to detract opponents. By linking contestants to motherhood, women‘s
sexuality is performed within acceptable boundaries. Oza states ―women‘s bodies and sexualities


became the material and discursive sites where nation was performed, values were contested, and
border and boundaries were policed and controlled‖ (Oza 2001,1068-1069). Oza‘s research provides
insight into the ways in which women, traversing the urban nightscape as call center employees, may
become the bodily site upon which arguments for or against globalization are framed.

Feminist Geography
Social change, or lack thereof, is reflected in the mobility and spatial access afforded to
women (Boyer 2005; Hapke and Ayyankeril 2004; Kantor 2002; Law 2002; Mandel 2004; Rankin
2003b; Silvey 2005; Yeoh and Huang 1998). The built environment not only reflects status and
power, but can also serve to reinforce existing gender divisions (Law 1999; Massey 1994; McDowell
1999). In turn, feminist geographers are actively engaged in deconstructing essentialist notions of
―woman‖ by articulating how gender is socially constructed in space and place at multiple scales By
examining space through a lens of ―difference‖, feminist geography also provides an understanding
of how representation is a ―…mediator and medium through with identities and spaces are
(re)produced‖ (Oberhauser et al. 2003,746).

In the House

Historically speaking, Domosh (1998a) explains that geographers, in general, ―did not move
past the front stoop‖ (1998a,275). Yet, the construction of gender relations within the household
provides a powerful understanding of how the spatial and temporal landscape of both public and
private space remains gendered (Marston 2000). Instead of viewing the household as what Brenner
terms ―relatively stable background structures‖ (Marston and Smith 2001,618), feminist geographers
argue that the household is a complex site where material practices are made and remade. Chant
(1998), in particular, defines the household as a ―geographically and historically dynamic social
institution in which gender is embedded and negotiated‖ (5).

Night shift employment provides a new context for gender relations in the household because
it represents a shift in the temporal landscape of women‘s economic opportunities and thereby
intersects with the ―second shift,‖ namely management of the household. Rankin‘s (2003b) research
on gender and socio-spatial change in Nepal finds that access to credit and income does not
necessarily contribute to gender equity in the household. And night shift employment may serve to
merely shift domestic responsibilities to other women within the household or, as illustrated by the
research of Pratt (2004), Yeoh and Huang (1998), and Tyner (1999), lead to an increased demand for
maids and servants, often from foreign countries.

Women on the Move

Regardless of the actual travel distance, changes in mobility represent a renegotiation of
prescribed gender roles (Domosh and Seager 2001; McDowell 1999). As MNC‘s redistribute labor
on a global scale, feminist geographers are interested in how the global hyper-mobility of MNC‘s
reshapes the mobility and spatial access of its workers, particularly in relation to categories such as
gender and class. Similar to Boserup‘s (1970) argument that economic development can further
marginalize women, Massey‘s (1994) seminal research on gender, space, and place finds that ―the


mobility and control of some groups can actively weaken other people‖ (150). Although
Hägerstand‘s (1975) work is not within a framework of feminist geography he also clearly explains
that ―one individuals use of his freedom influences what other individuals are able to do with theirs‖
(Hägerstand 1975,5).

Massey‘s assertion is reflected in Cravey‘s (1998; 2005) comparative research in Nogales, a
Mexican maquila border town, and Cuidad Madero, an interior town that emerged from a previous
state-led industrialization model of import substitution. Her findings indicate that as paid
employment becomes more connected to the global economy, the social geographies of women‘s
livelihoods become increasingly privatized and individualistic (Cravey 2005,119). Access to social
services (daycare and medical insurance) that were considered a social right in Cuidad Madero
became a social privilege in Nogales under the maquila framework.

Ong‘s (1987) research on transnational electronic factories in Malaysia uncovers how factory
work re-shapes women‘s physical, social and economic mobility. A key finding in her ethnography is
the assertion that transnational corporations are operate within a hierarchy of domination and
subordination that not only controls a worker‘s body, but also the ways in which young female
employees view themselves. Both studies provide an understanding of how the hyper-mobility of
MNC‘s reshapes the livelihood of its female-dominated workforce.

Body Politics

From being marked as a site of reproduction to a source of provocation, feminists are on the
forefront of critiquing the social and biological construction of women‘s bodies (Bordo 1993; Faludi
1991; McDowell 1999; Wilson 1992). Haraway (1988) argues that conceptualizing sex under the
guise of biological determinism threatens the space of emerging work in critical social theory. Using
figures such as the cyborg and trickster, Haraway (1991) refutes the dualistic notion of science versus
nature/culture and urges us to re-envision how categories of unitary identity, such as global ‗woman‘,
―are made and remade within a shifting network of determinants and desires‖ (Jacobs and Nash
2003,266).

By the mid-1990s, feminist geographers argued that the body, as scale of analysis, provides a
powerful understanding of how space and place are constructed on categories such as gender, race,
and class (Longhurst 1995; McDowell 1999; Moss 2002; Silvey 2005). Wright‘s (1997a; 1997b)
work is compelling in this area. Within a framework of gender, social geography, and global power
relations, she examines how Mexican women‘s bodies are marked as docile, submissive, and
tradition-bound in the maquiladora. By linking this perceived embodiment to the regulation and
control of women‘s bodies, she uncovers how gender inequality is spatialized in the maquiladora.

The embodiment discourse is linked to Butler‘s (1993) argument that gender is an act of
performativity. By ‗performing‘ gender, Butler suggests that notions of womanhood are inscribed on
the body and marked as a biological site of difference. Drawing from Butler‘s work, feminist
geographers provide new insight into the relationship between women‘s bodies and space at multiple
scales. Secor (2003), for instance, examines how ―regimes of veiling‖ (2003,5) in Istanbul allow


women to detract the male gaze, but at the same time reinforce the notion that women‘s bodies are a
source of provocation that must be controlled and concealed in urban public space.

Conceptual Approach
By examining globalization in conjunction with feminist geography, what emerges is a
critical understanding of the interplay between space, gender, and identity. My investigation of
transnational call center employment is based on a framework of social and economic embodiment,
spatial access, and a concept I‘ve termed temporal entrapment. Although the physical location of a
call center remains fixed, the meaning embedded in the urban space it occupies shifts depending on
the time of day.

In addition, the meaning that is embodied in dayshift versus night shift employment intersects
with the social construction of gender and class. In contrast to their male counterparts, the presence
of women in India‘s urban nightscape is often linked to prostitution and questionable moral values.
Ashini, a 23 year old employee, explains that her father‘s response to call center employment was:
―call center job equals call girl job.‖ Ashini‘s co-worker Kavita goes on to argue that family concern
for young women working the night shift is less about physical safety and more about how a
woman‘s presence in the urban nightscape will negatively impact a family‘s reputation. ―What will
people think?‖ is a common response women received from family members expressing hesitancy
about night shift employment. Such remarks can be linked to notions of middle-class morality, which
mark women‘s bodies as the site of family honor. In this instance, changes in women‘s temporal
mobility are viewed as potentially having a negative impact on the social status of both the worker
and her family.

In regards to spatial issues, shuttle transport at TYJ Corp. consists of vehicles carrying 6-8
employees and can take up to two hours each way, depending on where the employee resides. If all
the employees are female, then, in addition to the driver, a security guard is on board. If one of the
employees is a male, then a security guard is not required. However, the male employee is always the
last one dropped off. This measure is necessary due to reports of the Mumbai police stopping the
vans and accusing the female passengers of prostitution. Employees carry identity cards as proof of
employment, but it is not considered enough by police. In order for a woman to justify her existence
in the urban nightscape she requires the presence of a male counterpart. Although traversing the
nightscape may represent new levels of spatial access for women, it is based on a continuum of
protection and surveillance of women‘s bodies.

Temporal entrapment is conceived of from two dynamics. First, night shift labor may serve
as a time-trap that marginalizes women. By working the night shift, and inevitably sleeping thru the
day, it is possible that women become further excluded from social and economic opportunities
within the larger community. Shubhika and Sonia complain that since taking a call center job their
social life has diminished because they have lost touch with close friends and hardly have time for
their families. Second, working the night shift for a call center, albeit a position that is viewed as
secondary and having limited prospects for upward mobility (Kelkar, Shrestha, and Nagarjan 2002),


may create new opportunities and spaces for women upon which they re-invent their identity in the
formal economy and within their households. Instead of constraining her social life, Drasti explains
that call center employment allows her to befriend people from various walks of life that she
otherwise would not have access to. And perhaps shifting the dynamic of arranged marriage, Nazia
exclaims ―the call center becomes our marriage pool!‖ during an interview about how call center
employment has impacted her family and social life.

Linking women‘s employment to embodiment, spatial access, and temporal entrapment
provides a context for, and an understanding of how, night shift labor practices are reshaping the
lives of transnational call center employees. Furthermore, the conceptual framework I propose to use
allows me to examine how spatial practices, such as the journey to work, not only operate as a
singular quantified event (i.e. two hours each way on a shuttle bus), but also how night shift
employment reshapes the social construction of gender in a variety of spaces.

Research Site: Description and Justification

Dissertation fieldwork will take place in Mumbai, India. Mumbai is the financial center of the
Indian economy and serves as the largest income tax base for the country. Call centers are primarily
located in two outlying areas of Mumbai, Powai and Navi Mumbai, because of the exorbitant real
estate prices in the central business district. Powai is the epicenter of call center operations and is
home to Wipro-Spectramind, India's largest call center. Located over 30 miles away from Mumbai
proper, Navi Mumbai is 212.3 square miles and is India‘s largest urban planning project to date
(Shaw 2004). Development of Navi Mumbai began in 1971 with the goal of creating 14 towns that
will hold a population of approximately two million people. It was conceived of as a satellite town to
slow down the expansion of downtown Mumbai and to serve as a counter-magnet to draw new
incoming migrants and re-settle some of its current population (Shaw 2004, 4).

Arguably, as call center operations emerge throughout India, the question becomes why focus on
Mumbai versus Bangalore, Chennai, or Hyderabad. When asked ―Why setup in Mumbai versus
Bangalore?‖ Sharon, a call center executive, contends that Bangalore is the IT hub, but not
necessarily the call center hub. The presence of an educated, English-speaking population and the
space available to build call centers in the outlying areas of Mumbai are the key magnets drawing
companies to this area. Mumbai is also viewed as more cosmopolitan and professional, and is ahead
of Delhi in terms of fiber-optic connectivity and its electricity infrastructure (Patel 2002). At the
same time, during pre-dissertation research I discovered that some families are hesitant about women
working for a call center in Mumbai because, unlike Bangalore, Mumbai is viewed as a city of ill-
repute, danger, and sin. In this context, focusing on Mumbai provides a complementary
understanding of how the local conception of a cityscape intersects with the global demand for a
night shift labor force.


Research Methods and Timeline
An inductive, qualitative research methodology based on participant observation, in-depth
interviews, and surveys are used to gather data for this project. The methodology I use draws from
the grounded theory approach by Strauss and Corbin (1990; 1997). Unlike hypothesis testing which
compares findings to predetermined set of outcomes, grounded theory is an inductive approach in
which new findings emerge from an ongoing interplay between collecting and analyzing data.
(Cresswell 1998; Russell 2002). This methodology is well suited for research that: 1) examines the
meaning and context of a phenomenon; 2) focuses on the processes that lead to an event or action; 3)
seeks to identify unanticipated influences; and 4) seeks to uncover causal relationships (Maxwell
1998,75). My research will be carried out in the three stages discussed below.

Stage One (January 2006 to April 2006) - Completed

During the first four months of fieldwork, I networked with existing contacts to pre-test
interview questions and to obtain entry into call centers. Entry into call centers is particularly
difficult because the companies have strict contractual agreements with their U.S. and U.K. clients
that forbid access to outsiders. However, I obtained entry into KMA Corporation and conducted
semi-structured interviews with 20 employees. In addition, I conducted participant observation of
KMA‘s anniversary celebration with approximately 350 employees.

Thereafter, I attended the Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research (PUKAR)
Gender and Space Conference. Founded by Arjun Appadurai in 2001, PUKAR created the Gender
and Space Project to investigate how the cityscape of Mumbai is gendered in ways that regulate
women‘s mobility in public space (PUKAR n.d.). I also interviewed Anand Dalmia, an outsourcing
expert and contributor to Avendus, a Business Process Outsourcing newsletter. Both PUKAR and
Dalmia provided an understanding of the emergence of transnational call centers as well as women‘s
access to the spaces they occupy.

Stage Two (May 2006 to October 2006) – In Progress

During this six month timeframe the focus is primarily on conducting structured and semi-
structured interviews with employees and participant observation in call centers. Participant
observation allows me to evaluate the physical and temporal mobility of women as well as obtain
research participants. In-depth interviews are conducted outside the call center so as to alleviate
concerns or apprehension that findings from my interviews will be divulged to the employing
organization.

I will interview approximately 50 female call center employees and will seek a range of
employees from married versus single, living at home versus living in a hostel or company dorm, and
newly hired employees versus long term employees (one year or longer). A snowball sampling
technique is used to identify individuals to interview. This technique is based upon asking
interviewees to identify other potential research participants (Cresswell 1998; Russell 2002).


Although this method is not a random sample, it allows me to gain in-depth knowledge of the
experiences of call center employees. Interviews will also be conducted with approximately 20-25
family members of call center employees and 10-15 managers, trainers, former employees, and
government officials who are involved in IT policy. This sample will provide a different
understanding of how various actors inform and impact the experiences of female night shift
workers. In total, approximately 85-90 interviews will serve as the foundation for this study.

As of August 2006, 43 interviews consisting of employees, managers, and family members,
were conducted, 180 surveys were collected, and participant observation was conducted in two call
centers and various locales, such as malls, cafes, and bars, that employee‘s frequent. In addition,
newspaper and television accounts relating to women‘s participation in the call center industry are
being collected in order to assess how night shift employment is portrayed in the media and
community reaction to this relatively new industry. The interviews I seek to conduct, in combination
with participant observation and media accounts of the industry, will serve as the foundation for
uncovering the spatial livelihoods of call center employees.

Stage Three (November 2006 to March 2007)

In addition to wrapping up interviews in Mumbai, the NSF DDRI will allow me to expand
the scope of my study to include interviews with employees, managers, and family members in
Chennai and tier two cities. Chennai is a rapidly expanding call center hub. Although Mumbai and
Chennai are both major cities in India, Mumbai is considered a ―fast,‖ progressive city, whereas
Chennai is far more conservative, particularly in terms of gender relations. Investigating night shift
employment in Chennai, as a contrast to Mumbai, will provide an understanding of the role space
and place has in reshaping women‘s mobility.

The tier two cities for this project are Jaipur and Ahmadabad. They were selected because
Mumbai call centers are currently recruiting employees from both these cities. By investigating night
shift employment in Mumbai and tier two cities, my project will uncover the similarities and
differences in the social, spatial, and economic mobility experienced by women who migrate to
Mumbai for call center employment versus those who remain in tier two cities to pursue call center
employment. Contacts have been secured and permission is granted to visit call centers in both
Chennai and Ahmadabad. Currently, I am currently working to secure permissions in Jaipur.

Research Protocol and Analysis
The interviews I conduct with call center employees serve as the foundation for this project.
Some interviews will be quite short and focus on gathering factual data, others may focus on
particular topics. For all interviews, the goal is to record some of the basic information under the
following categories: 1) physical and temporal mobility; 2) household and community response to
women working in call centers; 3) social and economic spaces. Following are some of the questions I
draw from in my interview instrument:


Physical and temporal mobility

Describe your journey to work and home everyday. What challenges do you face?

How does changing your work shift impact your daily routine?

How often did you go out at night prior to working for a call center?

What have been your experiences in terms of going out at night?

Have you experienced harassment when you‘ve been out? Day or night? Explain.

Describe the protective measures taken by yourself or your company to ensure your safety

Does call center employment give you access to areas of the city that before were unavailable
to you? Describe.

Define places that you can now go to that were limited before? Or the degree to which you
travel un-escorted regularly.

Describe the positive experiences you‘ve had since you began working for a call center

Household and community response to women working in call centers

What did your family think about you working for a call center? Has their opinion changed?

How has working the night shift impacted your relationship with your family and friends?

From your experience, what perceptions do people have about women working in call
centers? Where do such perceptions come from?

How are women who work at night perceived in your neighborhood?

How are call center employees portrayed by the media? What is your opinion of their
portrayal?

Social and Economic Mobility

How does working for a call center impact your spending habits?

How has this job changed your day-to-day expenses?

Where do you hang out when you are not working?

What opportunities does this job provide you with that you didn‘t have before?


In general, if the respondent is willing to talk about a subject, they will be encouraged to do
so for as long as they like (through verbal and non-verbal cues) and I will provide follow-up
questions when necessary. In all cases, I inform participants that their identity will remain
confidential. IRB has waived the informed written consent requirement and pseudonyms are used on
paper and digital records to protect the identity of the participants. Data is stored on a password
protected laptop. In the event that the laptop breaks or is stolen, data is also maintained on Digital
Data Storage, an online backup server.

Interviews are taped when permission is granted by the interviewees. Subsequently, tapes
will be transcribed and a narrative analysis based on coding and categorizing interviewee responses
onto a matrix will be performed (Rubin and Rubin 1995; Strauss and Corbin 1990). This narrative
analysis will be compared to findings from participant observation as well as newspaper and
television accounts relating to women‘s participation in the call center industry. The NUD*IST, a
qualitative data analysis software program, will be utilized for automated coding, text search and
retrieval, and pattern discernment.

Conclusion
Call center employment provides women with relatively high paying jobs that were
previously unavailable. Yet it is unclear whether working the night shift work will impede or
enhance women‘s mobility and spatial access. On the surface, call centers represent a marked shift in
women‘s access to employment in the paid labor force. At the same time, initial findings suggest that
the emergence of this industry is not shifting patriarchal relations of power in a significant way due
to social and spatial constraints on women‘s mobility in the urban nightscape.

The result of my research will be a dissertation that I plan to defend in May, 2008 and will
eventually seek to publish into a book. Findings will be presented at the December, 2006 Women in
Technology conference held in India and the April, 2007 Association of American Geographers
conference. I will also use this research to pursue a career in the area of science and technology
policy. Over the long-term my goal is to advise both governmental and corporate entities on gender-
based linkages in technology, a critical issue as manufacturing expands in traditional societies.

NSF-DDRI
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