‘It's not acceptable for the husband to stay at home': Taking a discourse analytical approach to capture the gendering of work

Abstract

This article illustrates some of the ways in which the notion of (paid) work is actively being gendered, and how these gendering processes take place not only through organizational practices but also in discourses that circulate outside an organization in the private domain. Drawing on 15 in‐depth interviews with women who opted out of their own professional career in order to accompany their husbands on their overseas work assignment to Hong Kong, we demonstrate some of the benefits of using a discourse analytical approach to capturing and identifying the processes through which these women actively (although not necessarily consciously) gender the notion of work, thereby reinforcing the gender order and its male bias. We argue that identifying and making visible these gendered and gendering practices is an important component of, and a potential trigger for, change both in organizations as well as private contexts.

(As)simetrias De Género: Sucessos E Barreiras Em Discursos Profissionais

“…Essa conceção do homem que o desvincula da importância da conciliação profissional e dos deveres familiares tende a fazer-se em oposição aos encargos, tradicionalmente domésticos, da mulher (Schnurr et al, 2020). Segundo estes discursos, o homem procura o contexto familiar como ponto de apoio para as dificuldades pontuais que emergem da sua vida profissional: ".…”

“…Esses discursos destacam a visão tradicional de que é suposto o homem ganhar mais do que a mulher (Schnurr et al, 2020). Mais ainda, excluem a mulher de qualquer estatuto de sustento familiar (superior ou inferior).…”

Estereótipo, preconceito e assédio nas trajetórias de expatriadas brasileiras

“…Historicamente, os homens compõem a maioria das pessoas expatriadas por organizações, ao passo que as mulheres formam, majoritariamente, o grupo de familiares acompanhantes (Brookfield Global Relocation Services [BGRS], 2016;Slobodin, 2019;Schnurr, Zayts, Schroeder, & Le Coyte-Hopkins, 2019). À parte as dificuldades inerentes à expatriação, como o equilíbrio entre trabalho e família, a comunicação, o ajustamento cultural e o isolamento (Calderon, Guedes, Malheiros, & Carvalho, 2016;Prestes, Grisci, & Fraga, 2016;Langinier & Froehlicher, 2016), as mulheres podem enfrentar outras barreiras pelo simples fato de serem mulheres em um mundo pensado e dominado por homens (Oliveira, Gaio, & Bonacim, 2009;Eccel & Grisci, 2011).…”

The ‘Mirrored Ceiling’: Young undergraduate student women’s expectations of gendered career opportunities and constraints

“…Feminist geographers have examined gendered inequalities in the paid workplace. As Schnurr et al (2019) and Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson (2016) emphasise, despite advances and shifting social attitudes towards the role of women working in paid work, the workplace continues to be experienced very differently by men and women. In particular, there is a clear distinction between women's participation in the paid labour market and their unequal occupation of the highest levels of management, power and responsibility.…”

“…Underpinning this unequal distribution of women within the paid labour market are various coalescing attributes of the paid labour market. Women often find themselves having to navigate 'masculine' working environments (Schnurr et al, 2019) and male notions of 'success' (Reimer, 2016). They also have to battle with everyday sexism (Worth, 2016a) and pressure to choose between their careers and family lives (Pringle et al, 2017).…”