ST.

VINCENT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

Adamson University

MONEY PRECEDES POWER:

THE FEMINIZATION OF CALL CENTER

A Theological Synthesis Paper

Presented

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Curriculum for The Ordained Ministry

ROMEO AUDITOR, JR.

2018
 MONEY PRECEDES POWER:
THE FEMINIZATION OF CALL CENTER1

I. RATIONALE

Who does not want money? Everybody wants money. Money seems to be the life of the

people. In fact, the metallic form of money has been in existence from as early as 2000 years

before Christ, and it has only been developed into a paper money eighteenth century A.D. 2But

the term money has become powerful on its own. Since pre-historic era money has become soul

of human’s existence.

Now, power is a different thing in the early times. Power is something that pertains

strength, descendant or and position. As it has been portrayed in the early times, no one could

inherit the powerful position of the king unless he is a royal blood or the first son or at least the

son of the king himself. But in evolution of times, the value of money becomes limited and

constructed as how it satisfies individual and dictates people to accomplish something.

Money and power is like the two faces of coins. It completes the value of a single penny.

And these are the faces of the call center in the Philippines that have been interpreted regarding

the number of workers in the entire companies. Money as the soul of human’s existence becomes

a motivation of every single person particularly women and transgender to take over or at least

dominate this fast growing company in numbers. To what factor they become dominant in this

realm of living? That is the concern that the researcher would like to develop in this study. To be

able to confirm money as the other side of entity to establish a powerful identity, thus,

1
The idea of feminization of call center is borrowed from Leavides G. Domingo-Cobarrubias’s article on
Gender Matters in the Call Center Industry: A Review of Literature on the Effects of Call Center Work on Women in
the Review of Women’s Studies, Vol. XXI, Num.2, 72.
2
StanislausSwamikannu, Truth, Power, Money: A Postmodern Reading, (Indian: Asian Trading Corporation,
2004), 22.
feminization is the reality that has been discovered of flocking women and transgender in the call

center particularly in the Philippines setting.

Therefore, the process would focus more on the factors that triggered the feminist urge on

recent reality which in-line with power. This perhaps enlightens the claim of Stanislaus on

feminization of call center.

II. SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

The specific aim of this research is to demystify the claim on the feminization of the fast

growing business world. On the one hand, the idea of Michael Foucault on power would

hopefully sheds light on this particular issue –whether it is a phenomenon on gender conflict or a

business strategy which empower the its fast growing using or adapting women as the frontal of

all development. And lastly, the phenomenology of money by Johnson J. Puthenpurackal would

also be a jumping board and hopefully shared the same concern on the structural or sociological

phenomenon that driven the women as the dominant numbers in the call centers in the entire

region.

III. STUDY FRAMEWORK AND OBJECTIVES

Call center industry is the subject of the study for the purpose of unfolding the claim on

power which has been a deprivation of some groups who speak of total freedom from the ancient

dominant figure in history, and is triggered by the strategic design of the company and able to

produce a high percent of wage in which the researcher wants to believe it as the motivation or a

drives that made people push in. So that in the issue on gender particularly in the Philippine

society will be highlighted.

 To come up with a scientific framework, it proposes a familiar design of Erez and Early

(1993) which is also used by Ma. Regina Hechanova-Alampay 3the Cultural Self-Representation

Model. However, if their model is consists of four factors such as: cultural values and norms,

work practices, self, and employees’ work motivation and behavior, the researcher would like to

respect the same model but with a twist of areas of concerns. It uses money as the modern values

of Philippine culture despite its family oriented entity, power as the main goal for overcoming

‘poverty, authority figure in the family between husband and wife’, and eventually a dominant

identity in the society’, and finally, feminization as the successful effect of the strategic design of

call center industry.

Therefore, the focus would be money as the material entity that influenced people

especially women and transgender to challenge the close-tied culture. It is different from Erez

and Early (1993) whose focus is on the person. Person here is given as a director of life yet

motivated or even dictated by material things like money because it becomes a culture of each

individual.

Power Business
strategy

Feminization

The Identity

Money

Motivational Factor

3
Ma. Regina Hechanova-Alampay, 1-800-Philippines: Understanding and Managing the Filipino Call
Center Worker, (Philippines: Institute of Philippine Culture Ateneo de Manila University, 2010), 4.
IV. STAMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The central concern of the researcher wants to unfold is strategy of the Call Center

Industry that invites a good numbers of women and transgender and eventually change their

cultural perspective and practices. And the profound claim that this Industry has produced was

the atmosphere that it realized and became the subject for empowering a certain group of society

which has been deprived of total freedom from the dominant number of figures.

Therefore, it seeks to understand:

1. How does Call Center Industry realize the fast growing challenge of business

competition considering the fact that it has been influenced people’s interest especially the

people in middle class society? Is it a matter of strategizing the aim of business to be able to

attract employees despite the challenge of working abroad or OFW?

2. How would this good number or high percentage of women worker becomes the basis

of Leavides G. Domingo-Cobarrubias’s claim on feminization of call center industry?

3. Finally, how would the agents twist the two faces of coins into a new culture reality

against poverty?

V. METHODOLOGY

The study used a phased, mix-method approach in generating a qualitative and

quantitative data through library or table observation and through interviews and questionnaires.

However, the presentation used another terminology or to specify the area of concern. And the

first scheme is adopted a grounded approach, and the effect were used to honed the hypotheses

and outline the survey.

 A. LABORATORY/LIBRARY: Table observation and data-gathering on the concept of

Money, Power, and Feminism

The people, responsible for the construction of this topic are philosophers in expertise;

therefore, there was a need for table data gathering. To be able to understand the claims or the

stands of these the researcher opted to sit down in the library and discern the philosophical

identity of Money, Power, and Feminism. It was proper to be grounded with this reality and stand

so that the research would be paralleled to the reality happening in the corporate world.

Together with the table ground breaking of different ideas of Foucault, Stanislaus, and the

field work with the guidance of Ma. Regina’s research on recent phenomenon of Call Center

Industry, the systematic formulation of questionnaires for interview was also made. It aims for

better and simplified and systematic sets of questions that suit the interest of the participants.

B. INTERVIEW: Participant’s concept on Money, Power, as well as Feminization of

Call Center

The researcher has invited at least 30 participants from at least 100 hundred out of 788 4

call centers around Metro Manila. The call center agents have interviewed during their shift after

three months of night shift. The process was quite challenging when the interview was done

during the free time of each participant especially the night shift agents. So, after the official

invitation was set out between the participants and the research, the timing would after three

months on the shift of the participants. The process was able to establish a formal conversation

mostly in the Starbucks coffee shops.

They were asked like:

1. What is your impression on money?

4
Ibid, 3.
 2. How did you know call center industry?

3. How did you find your job?

4. How was your relationship with your co-agents?

5. How was your relationship with your leaders?

6. How about your family relationship?

7. How many women employed in your specific call center branch?

8. What do you think of the strategy of the Industry for propagating business

opportunities?

9. What do you think of the great number of women and transgender in the call center?

10. Is it empowering that men are less in number in this inconvenient type of job? What

do you think?

11. What do you think of being a breadwinner of the family? Isn’t it fulfilling like

dominant in the financial of the family?

12. Do you think that women and the transgender become now prominent in the world of

power?

13. Would you agree that money is one of the most prominent ways from alleviating

poverty – financially, oppression form husbands and leaders, and a voiceless in the society?

14. How would you empower our citizen for this great success of women and the

transgender people?

15. Finally, would it good to promote this industry to our brethren considering the

negative and positive benefices?

 C. ACTUAL OBSERVATION AND INTERACTION: A survey of at least 100 calls

centers:

1. Number of women working

2. High percent of differential pay

3. Structural and Institutional factors that enhance women’s credibility

The researcher had chosen 100 call centers in Metro Manila for the interviews in order to

gather a more authentic result out of 788 call centers in 20 locations. It is to make sure or to

come up at least close percentage of the women workers. The high percentage of women workers

in the highest number of call center branches would testify the incredibility of the claim of

feminization. There would be a possibility of the claims. However, the study had stabilized from

mere claim of feminization of call center or a mere strategy of the industry to produce a fast

growing business purposes.

From the actual surveys, it confirmed the authenticity of the record during the interviews.

It was strong process of authenticating the study because interview per se is just one side of the

coin without checking the reality inside the subject of the study.

During working hours, the researcher would observe the agents particularly to the women

and the transgender as well as the setting of the very demanding atmosphere of the job.

Finally, the data gathering had formulated into a systematic study to be able to address

the negative speculation of the writer regarding the idea of feminization of call center.

VI. Data Gathering

In this area of completion, the process would be a comparison of the result of the

interview and the actual observation done by the researcher himself. The result of the comparison

would be tested and again patterned the construction of the philosophers that the researcher has
used as the basis of coming up the political side of the claim which is feminization of the call

center.
Bibliography

Domingo-Cobarrubias, Leavides G. article on Gender Matters in the Call Center Industry: A

Review of Literature on the Effects of Call Center Work on Women in the Review of
Women’s Studies, Vol. XXI, Num.2.

Swamikannu,Stanislaus.Truth, Power, Money: A Postmodern Reading. Indian: Asian Trading

Corporation, 2004.

Hechanova-Alampay,Ma. Regina.1-800-Philippines: Understanding and Managing the Filipino

Call Center Worker. Philippines: Institute of Philippine Culture Ateneo de Manila
University, 2010.

RRL:

Haughey, John. The Holy Uses of Money: Personal Finances in Light of Christian Faith. New
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