gender and sexuality in non-traditionally female work: the experience of women in different...

8/3/2019 Gender and sexuality in non-traditionally female work: the experience of women in different occupational groups i

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Gender and sexuality in non-traditionally female work:

the experience of women in different occupational groupsin the UK construction and transport industries

Summary of findings

Tessa Wright

IntroductionMost previous research on women in non-traditionally female work has focused on the workinglives of heterosexual women (or has not questioned womens sexual orientation) and on those inprofessional or managerial occupations. Therefore this research aimed to shed light on the diversityof women in male-dominated work by investigating the experiences of heterosexual women andlesbians working in operational and skilled manual jobs as well as in professional and managerialroles in the UK construction and transport sectors.

This report contains a summary of the key findings of a PhD thesis carried out between 2007 and2011 using qualitative methods. This included interviews with 15 key experts (from employers, trade

unions, industry and training bodies and womens networks) on womens employment in non-traditionally female work; 38 women working in construction andtransport occupations; focus groups with 16 women training orworking in the manual trades; and observation of events to raiseawareness of opportunities for women in non-traditional work.

One of the most striking findings to emerge from interviews andfocus groups with women workers was their very positive feelingabout working in typically male jobs, often despite difficult andsometimes hostile working environments. Several women described

the sense of empowerment they felt from doing a mans job, afeeling which was most notable among women in the manual tradesand in bus and train driving. Doing a job normally considered to bethe preserve of men both increased their personal self-confidenceand broadened their perceptions of what women could achieve inthe world, offering role models for others. On the basis of this andother evidence, the thesis concludes that continued efforts toincrease womens participation in male -dominated occupations andsectors are needed at all levels in order to progress gender equality inemployment.

I think actually there was areal thrill about doing a man s

job. I think it was reallythrilling. And I think it wasvery empowering. Yes, I thinkit was actually that feeling of breaking ground. (Lesbian,furniture maker, 50s)

I just think that it s good forwomen in general [...]because I think it proves to alot of people that women canactually do the same job as aman, sometimes better. (Lesbian, train operator, 30s)


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Key findings

Policy and action to increase womens participation in non -traditionaloccupations

The research identified a variety of initiatives being undertaken to encourage women toenter or progress in male-dominated occupations and experts involved in these found noscarcity of women interested in entering non-traditional occupations, particularly themanual trades, attracted by the potential material rewards.

Experts highlighted the need for action aimed both at encouraging women and girls toconsider and prepare for non-traditional careers and at reducing the barriers to womensentry from employers and industry, such as systems of training and work placements.

Political will and financial resources are necessary in order to improve the continuing lownumbers of women in the construction and transport sectors. An example was the OlympicsWomens Project which had provided work experience and jobs fo r women in the manualtrades building the London Olympics 2012 site.

The introduction of equality requirements into public sector procurement processes was feltto be a useful strategy for ensuring that contractors took action to address theunderrepresentation of women and other groups in theirworkforces.

Political changes at national and regional levels were likely tostall or reverse the progress being made by projectsaddressing womens underrepresentation in non -traditionaloccupations due to funding cuts and changes in policypriorities.

Reasons for choosing traditionally male occupations Improving pay prospects or gaining equal pay to men was a

reason that many women had entered the manual trades orbus and train-driving occupations. Women in professionalconstruction or transport occupations mostly cited interest intechnical or mathematical areas as a reason for their choices.

Several women had received encouragement from their fathers to pursue gender atypicalinterests, not necessarily in following directly in their father scareer footsteps, but through encouragement to think beyondtypically female interests or careers .

Many women described early interests in boy s stuff or active,outdoor interests and several referred to being tomboys whenyoung. They related their early interests in typically maleactivities or friendships with boys to their later work choices.

For some lesbians an awareness of an alternative sexualityinfluenced their work choices, either through anticipating aneed for financial self-sufficiency which drew them towardswell-paid male work, or a rejection of heterosexual norms thatalso involved challenging traditional gender roles at work.

I didn t want to go back towomen s wages, I meanother things I looked atwere terrible. At least witha male-oriented job you getmale- oriented pay.(Heterosexual, bus driver,50s)

I think I m probably a littlebit of a tomboy by natureanyway, I tend to likethings that would be morethings you d expect a boyto be doing, things likemountain biking andsnowboarding andpaintball. (Heterosexual,

manager, transport, 30s)


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Wome ns experience of working in construction and transport The view of women as out of place in male work was symbolised by the difficulties several

women still encountered in getting uniforms or protective clothing to fit and they weresometimes made to fe el they were making a fuss whentrying to get suitable clothing.

Women paid considerable attention to dress and appearancein male-dominated environments, carefully balancingmasculinity and femininity in order to fit. For lesbians,appearance may also be used to signal their sexuality and tominimise unwanted heterosexual attention.

Male-dominated workplaces are often characterised bysexualised workplace interactions, with considerable interestin womens sexual availability, or not, to men. W hile sexualharassment was less tolerated in the working environmentsof professional women in construction and transport than in

the past, women working on building sites and in bus andtrain depots continued to experience harassment and were often reluctant to use theorganisa tions grievance procedures for fear of being labelled a troublemaker.

Some lesbians had experienced harassment on the basis of their gender presentation orsexual orientation. Employer and trade union responses to homophobic harassment weregenerally less well-developed than in relation to sexual harassment.

Many women experienced positive and supportive workplace relations with the majority of male colleagues, with only a small minority of male colleagues resisting the presence of women in male-dominated occupations.

Support networks and trade unions Around half of interviewees expressed a preference for working with men over women, and

this group was less likely to seek out support from other women in their occupation orindustry, either formally or informally. Additionally somewomen were deterred from joining networks for women forfear that this would hinder relationships with malecolleagues.

Women who joined industry or professional networks forwomen did so for varied reasons, including access to trainingand work experience; professional networking to help theircareers; participation in social events; and support fromother women in similar work.

Lesbians working in organisations with staff networks bothfor women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)employees tended to join the LGBT rather than the womensgroups, feeling that raising the visibility of LGBT issues was ahigher priority.

Employer-organised network groups for LGBT staff attractedhigher numbers of professional/managerial participants,

which was attributed to difficulties for those doing shiftwork getting time off to attendmeetings, as well as a lesser likelihood of non-professional groups feeling able to disclose

They were talking aboutwomen in a very derogatoryway, and they only startedthe conversation when I gotthere, and they didn t stop,they just carried on, and I justsat there. (Heterosexual,

train operator, 40s)

So you d probably only seeone female from one week tothe next and so it was a goodthing that we all got together

[...] where there are limitedwomen, because, you knowthere were times when I hadtrouble with my supervisor, Ididn t know who to turn to .(Painter and decorator, focusgroup)


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their sexual orientation in hostile work environments further from the reach of organisational policies. The networking benefits of participation in staff groups may also begreater for professional staff.

Non-professional staff in transport were more likely to participate in their trade unions thanprofessionals in either sector. For some trade union members a commitment to challenginginequality had provided a motivation for union activism orparticipation in union separate groups for women or LGBTmembers, although there was also a view that separateorganisation could weaken class-based union solidarity.

The impact of domestic life on work The long and inflexible working hours common in the

construction and transport industries meant that manyinterviewees relied on partners for domestic and childcaresupport. Women also felt pressure to worker harder than aman in order to prove themselves . Among heterosexualcouples with children, some male partners took primaryresponsibility for childcare, while others had greaterflexibility in working hours to facilitate childcareresponsibilities than their female partners.

Up to half of heterosexual interviewees with partners hadearned more than their partners, which in some cases had affected the division of childcareresponsibilities within couples with the male partner taking the greater share. Therefore theentry of women into higher-paid male-dominated work can shift the traditional genderdivision of labour within households. However for one lesbian couple, while there was no

gender division of domestic tasks, they had chosen toorganise their lives to support the primary career of onepartner, while the other partner took charge of domestic life,taking on a housewife role on top of her part-time paidemployment.

A high proportion of lesbian interviewees (40% compared to19% of all lesbians in 2009) were in civil partnerships, andseveral used the term wife in referring to their partner. Thismay have had the effect of normalising lesbian relationshipsat work and provided a way to discuss their sexualorientation with heterosexual colleagues.

While none of the lesbian interviewees had dependentchildren, one had made a regular commitment to care forthe daughter of friends and others were consideringadoption in the future. This suggests that employers whoview lesbians as more reliable workers because they do not have children (as oneinterviewees manage r had) may be disappointed.

I am the housewife, yes I doall the cleaning, shopping.Literally I will see foundationsin the morning, I ll nip toWaitrose, and I ll see a roof,come home, do the washing.[...] I joke that I m a part-timesurveyor but I work most of the time 8 till 5. [...] I do thelogistics of living. (Lesbian,building surveyor, 40s)

I work around 12 hours aday and I come on Saturdayas well, and if I m a man, Iprobably should not havedone that much to establish,but I m a woman so I have toestablish myself that I canachieve what they canachieve. (Heterosexual,quantity surveyor,construction, 30s)


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Policy implications The difficulty in gaining work experience remains a powerful barrier to women entering the

manual trades, and the research found that projects such as the Building Work for Womenproject run by Women and Manual Trades provided vital opportunities to help women gainwork in the manual trades. Funding for projects of this kind, which both prepare women for

non-traditional occupations and work with employers to offer opportunities to women,remains vital to overcome the real obstacles that face women seeking to improve theiremployment prospects by gaining work in better-paid typically male occupations. Suchprojects also reach women who may face further disadvantage in the labour market, such asthe unemployed, those without higher-level qualifications, working-class and ethnic minoritywomen, and single parents.

The research showed the public sector commitment to ensure equality considerations weretaken into account in the construction of the Olympic site in East London, as well as in othermajor construction projects, driven by regional policies to reduce occupational segregation.Evidence from interviewees suggested that linking procurement to equality actions could be

a powerful lever for change and could offer opportunities to women in construction,provided that sufficient monitoring and support was available to ensure that companieswere putting action plans into practice rather than simply ticking boxes. Furthergovernment guidance and support to public authorities to include equality objectives inprocurement processes, legally supported through the public sector equality duties, wouldassist this objective, as well as clarification of the legal position under the Equality Act 2010.

Despite the existence of LGBT network groups in some organisations, sexual orientation wasstill considered to lack visibility in organisational policies and procedures, particularly forexample in relation to tackling homophobic harassment. Furthermore, it was often felt thatorganisational policy or good practice did not reach sites where operational or manualemployees worked, usually distant from the head office. More therefore needs to be doneto address the needs of non-professional or managerial heterosexual women and lesbians,including in relation to making staff network groups accessible to all.

More informationFor further information about this research, or to obtain a full copy of the PhD thesis, please contactTessa Wright, email: [email protected] ; mobile: 07949 785258.

October 2011

Thanks to all who helped with this research

I wish to thank all those who very kindly participated in this research, as key expert interviewees,in help with reaching interviewees and most of all to the women who took the time to meet meand share their stories of working in the construction and transport sectors. I hope they find theresults interesting and useful.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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