Traps for women or meaningful jobs for the future? Challenges and opportunities in female-dominated occupations

This program offers new knowledge about the structures and mechanisms that generate gender inequality in wages, careers, health and social recognition.

By advancing knowledge on four fronts, the program will provide policy-relevant insights on how to promote good working conditions as well as an inclusive and healthy working life that is socially sustainable.1) We analyze in novel ways the working conditions of female-dominated occupations and its significance for gender gaps in wages, careers, health and social recognition.

We focus particularly on whether and how gender inequalities can be attributed to many female-dominated occupations being people-oriented, emotionally demanding, and having split shifts.2) We analyze how work, family life, and health can influence and interact with each other in a dynamic way that shapes gender differences in wages, careers, social recognition and subsequent health-related outcomes (e.g. mental and physical (ill)health, sick leave and labor market exit).3) We make an analytical distinction between structural positions in working life (occupations and work organizations) and the individuals (employees) who inhabit these positions.

We also apply statistical methods allowing us to separate and explore the interplay between occupational, organizational and employee characteristics in shaping gender inequalities.4) Based on a country-comparative perspective, we investigate how family policy and labor market institutions may counteract or reinforce work-related gender inequalities in health, well-being and social recognition.The proposed research is based on theoretical perspectives from different disciplines, state-of-the-art statistical methods, and data from top-standard surveys (LNU 1968-2022, EWCS 2015/2021, ISSP 1987-2022) as well as Swedish administrative registers.

The research team consists of thirteen researchers from five universities and four different disciplines (sociology, economics, social work and public health).