Kjønnskulturer i arbeidslivet - et forprosjekt for LO (= Gender cultures in
work life)
Holter, Øystein Gullvåg, and Sørensen, Bjørg Aase in cooperation with
Authors:
Halrynjo, Sigtona
2003
Year:
Series Title: Rapport ; 2003:5
Language: Norwegian
Title:
English summary
“Gender cultures in work life” aims at surveying some current trends in research on gender relations in
the work place. Three main questions are raised:
1: Do specific, gendered workplace cultures exist?
2: If such cultures exist, how do they affect health and well-being?
3: How do men and women experience their workplace cultures?
In order to answer these questions, an examination of available, published material was initiated. The
study is intended to facilitate a decision making process by the LO (The Norwegian Confederation of
Trade Unions), which considered launching a broader study on equality in work life.
Findings
The report on gendered work cultures shows that gender and equality still represent important issues
and challenges in working life, and that problems in this area are closely linked. It is gendered work
cultures, mixed with power as part of missing equality effort, that surface as the problem area calling
for further research, not gender or gendered cultures as such.
In working life as in the broader Norwegian society, equality is regarded as an issue pertaining to
equal distribution. This is still an important perspective. But new research contributions promote
another perspective emphasizing democracy and societal development. Equality is thus regarded as
salient for the enhancement of a better work life and society. Gender cultures are changing; they are
not static.
It seems that Norway in important areas has experienced an “equality pause” during the last decade or
so; at least there are indicators that the equalizing development has slowed down. External as well as
internal processes have influenced this. Globalisation and restructuring, political changes with market
power and liberal economic winds are parts of this picture.
The development has become slower and more uneven, and as a consequence the already existing
level of equality seem more vulnerable. Many experienced contradictory expectations. The report
discusses research findings showing how men and women in work life meet and react, encountering
this development. The employees must meet the challenges of a “new” economy, and this implies
even new demands to unionisation and labour relations. The work life can be designed to provide
more of supporting structures and less of hindrances in relation to the future development.
The enterprises and organizations have shown renewed interest in the issue of women and
management. But the interest is rather weak when it comes to the situation of women in the lower
echelons. Little attention is devoted to men and their potential in an equality perspective. At the same
time the society is undergoing changes. The employees organize their daily life in new ways and find
new ways of interaction.
Despite considerable gains regarding gender-equal status in many parts of society (politics, law,
culture etc), Norwegian working life is still strongly gender-segregated and often characterised by
gender-specific workplace cultures that tend to hinder potentials for development. This report
examines the bases and dynamics of gender cultures in working life, focusing especially on the
interaction of gender and other social dimensions like work level and class/status. It is argued that
working life reforms must be developed with a gender perspective in mind; that gender mainstreaming
efforts need to be more clearly connected to a gender equal status policy that involves both genders;
and that more explicit attention must be given to men’s part of gender equality.
Currently 7 out of 10 among the 2,3 million employees in Norway are employed in the public and
private service sector. The demands for knowledge and competence are increasing. A large proportion
of the workers contend that they depend on managing the relationship to clients, pupils, patients,
guests and customers and at the concomitant to master the relations to their co-workers or team mates.
This implies that both men and women must understand and relate to and understand emotional work
demands in a professional way. Research shows that this kind of relational and emotional work
represents new aspects of the work environment with implication for the health and well being first
and foremost as an increased reporting of fatigue, stress and muscle and skeletal symptoms.
Work life has become increasingly more dependent on new forms of work and novel patterns of
interaction. Equality may improve on the job level even if the gendered division of labour still
constitutes a problem.
Gender balanced work environments where men and women experience equal opportunity seem,
according to emerging knowledge, to provide a more viable and supporting psychosocial environment.
But active measure needs to be promoted in order to level unequal power relations to prevail. Work
life research, together with research from other societal arenas demonstrates the interdependence
between the conditions of men and women. Beyond doubt the need for active measures to obtain equal
pay and improved possibility of participation for women remains a primary target. But at the same
time the reforms needed to forward the opportunity for men to diversify and develop their social roles
are as pressing. The fact that there are several unsolved problems experienced by women should not
serve as an argument to neglect the role and responsibility for men to search for equality. These issues
are related. The union movement faces an important challenge to create a drive for an equality
development that will be positive for the whole society combining the experiences and ambitions of
both men and women.
This vision calls for a continual follow up of the development within working life, launching research
and developmental work that pays attention to the challenges of daily life and life in the private
sphere. The trade union movement carries the proud tradition of supporting the policy of full
employment. This policy aims at including every person in gainful employment with “a wage to live
on” as well as a possibility to take active part in shaping work life with humanistic and equality
supporting values. Norwegian women and men are devoted to their work and find it meaningful to be
useful to contribute through work. We may expand the motto of the women’s liberation pioneer Katti
Anker Møller – “we love our work and parenthood, but in freedom”.