Men’s Experiences in Feminized Occupations on the Example of Selected Professions

The issues raised in this article concern the functioning of men in feminized professions. The aim of the study was to gather experiences of men working in jobs dominated by women. The research included twenty men and was conducted between February and April 2020 in Poland, using a narrative interview. Research problems were focused on men’s attitudes toward their jobs, the assessment of career advancement opportunities, advantages and disadvantages resulting from working in a feminine environment, relations with colleagues and employers, and reactions of their environment. The interviews revealed a relatively positive image of men’s experiences relating to working with women. The respondents did not notice any specific difficulties in their professions caused by gender stereotypes. They expressed a view that working among women was like any other job. Few difficulties mentioned by the respondents were related mostly to the issue of assistance in activities requiring strength or technical knowledge rather than competences related to a specific profession. Moreover, the interviewees treated their professions as an opportunity for self-development and for gaining experience that they would not have been able to gain in a typically male environment.

Care Workers in Argentina

The working conditions, relative wages, and social standing of care occupations are the result of diverse causes that can worsen, improve, or neutralize the labor disadvantages usually found in care occupations. This article seeks to provide a perspective on the factors underlying care workers’ working conditions in Argentina. It presents a comparative analysis of three highly feminized occupations—early education teachers, nurses, and domestic workers. After highlighting the different working conditions among these occupations, the paper focuses on the critically important role that unionization and state policies have played in defining each labor context in Argentina. The analysis shows how workers’ evaluation of their occupation and working conditions are fundamentally shaped by these two variables.

Equal Pay: The Evolutionary Process 1984-1994

Equal pay in Australia has been implemented with varying degrees of success since the first historic equal pay decision was handed down in 1969. The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of the equal pay process in the federal industrial relations sphere, with major emphasis on the period from the mid-1980s to the recent legislation that provides for equal remuneration for work of equal value as a legislative right. The mechanisms for processing equal pay are exam ined, drawing on the experience gained from various cases in which implementa tion of equal pay was the goal. Emphasis is given to recent experience in the Family Court Counsellors Case to illustrate the impact of enterprise bargaining on the equal pay process. The paper concludes that the equal pay process has developed greater objectivity over time, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's work value principle for the pur poses of evaluating work in feminized occupations. The conclusion is also reached that enterprise bargaining, which is known to disadvantage women, has also been the catalystfor equal pay as a legislative right—although the value of that right in an enterprise bargaining environment is questioned.