Ergonomic analysis of work activity of data entry clerks in the computerized service sector can reveal unrecognized skills.
Women are highly represented in those computer service jobs which are supposed to require the lowest level of qualification. The complexity of the activities which contribute to accomplishing such tasks in real life is usually unrecognized, as are the skills needed to perform these activities. The requirements of one such job, held by 7 women in a university administration, have been documented by ergonomic analysis. According to the supervisors, little mental effort was required, and "the employees do the job without even thinking about it." However, study of the real tasks involved revealed that the job required a great deal of innovative thinking, all of it unrecognized by the employer, and some of it actually forbidden. However, because the knowledge was not arrived at through systematic training, it is fragmentary and does not permit the employee to be fully autonomous or to transfer her skills to other jobs.