Girls’ Jobs for the Boys? Men, Masculinity and Non‐Traditional Occupations

Abstract

Occupational segregation by sex remains the most pervasive aspect of the labour market. In the past, most research on this topic has concentrated on explanations of women's segregation into low paid and low status occupations, or investigations of women who have crossed gender boundaries into men's jobs, and the potential impact on them and the occupations. In contrast, this article reports on a small scale, qualitative study of ten men who have crossed into what are generally defined as 'women's jobs'. In doing so, one of the impacts on them has been that they have experienced challenges to their masculine identity from various sources and in a variety of ways. The men's reactions to these challenges, and their strategies for developing and accommodating their masculinity in light of these challenges are illuminating. They either attempted to maintain a traditional masculinity by distancing themselves from female colleagues, and/or partially (re)constructed a different masculinity by identifying with their non-traditional occupations. This they did as often as they deemed necessary as a response to different forms of challenge to their gender identities from both men and women. Finally, the article argues that these responses work to maintain the men as the dominant gender, even in these traditionally defined 'women's jobs'.

La segregación horizontal por género y sus consecuencias en la ocupación masculinizada de mecánico/a en el subsector de reparación de vehículos en España

“…Los padres varones se enfrentan con mayor ímpetu que las madres a la elección de sus hijas de ser mecánicas, muy probablemente la consideran una transgresión del orden social y el sistema de gé-nero y una amenaza a la identidad masculina. Asimismo, como varones son conscientes de las dificultades con las que se encontrarán en ocupaciones masculinizadas (Brace-Govan, 2004;Cross & Bagilhole, 2002).…”

Les effets de la mixité au prisme du corps et de la sexualité

“…En revanche, les situations d'« inversion du genre » où des hommes investissent des professions « fémi-nines » ont été moins analysées (Williams, 1992 ;anGeloFF, arBorio, 2002 ;GuiChard-ClaudiC et al, 2008 ;BusCatto, Fusulier, 2013). Ces travaux sur des hommes en situation de « minorité » se sont essentiellement concentrés sur les secteurs de la santé (KerGoat, 1992 ;Charrier, 2004Charrier, et 2008douGuet, VilBrod, 2008 ;PiCot, 2011), du travail social (PhiliPPe, 2008 ;Bessin, 2008 ;Cresson, 2010 ;Bodin, 2011) et du champ éducatif (GalBraith, 1992 ;murCier, 2008 ;herman, 2007 ;JaBoin, 2008), voire sur les trois à la fois (Williams, 1992 ;Cross, BaGilhole, 2002) (1) . Ils ont montré que l'avancée en mixité se traduit par des processus différents lorsqu'elle est le fait d'hommes et non de femmes, puisque leurs modalités d'entrée dans la profession où ils/elles sont « minoritaires », mais aussi le prix à payer pour cette position et leurs déroulements de carrières (GuiChard-ClaudiC et al, 2008) sont contrastés.…”

“…La question d'éventuelles renégociations de l'identité masculine dans ces activités « fémi-nines », dont on sait qu'elles exposent les hommes au soupçon d'homosexualité (Cross, BaGilhole, 2002), s'y trouve posée de manière particulière. Une analyse attentive à la « routine relationnelle » (BroChier, 2011) de l'accueil permet de mettre plus spéciiquement l'accent sur le rôle joué par le corps, mais aussi par la sexualité, dans la manière dont s'élaborent dans ces situations une division sexuelle du travail et des avancées de carrière diffé-renciées des un.e.s et des autres.…”

Gender stereotyping within career and technical education : exploring relationships among gender, coursetaking, and outcomes of high school CTE students.

“…While some skew might be expected due to a larger percentage of men in the labor force than women, one concern of such segregation is that women are generally concentrated in fields that yield lower economic rewards (Cross & Bagilhole, 2002;Hogue et al, 2010;Huffman & Cohen, 2004). While there is ample data available to show that occupational segregation is still a relevant concern despite equal opportunities that males and females have for both education and career entry, the issue of why such segregation continues remains a question without a consensus answer.…”

“…While some research suggests that people make occupational choices as a result of values (Evans & Diekman, 2009;Marini et al, 2002;Weisgram et al, 2011), others suggest that career decisions are based upon outside needs such as achieving a work/life balance (Hakim, 2006;Still, 2006). Regardless of the reason, occupational gender segregation is concerning because it leads to pay disparities between men and women (commonly referred to as the gender wage gap) since male-oriented careers typically pay more (Cross & Bagilhole, 2002;Hogue et al, 2010;Huffman & Cohen, 2004).…”