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Managing Working Hours and Domestic Life

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Gender and Sexuality in Male-Dominated Occupations

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Abstract

Women’s domestic circumstances and responsibilities continue to constrain their participation in the labour market. The long hours, shift patterns and lack of flexible working that characterise the construction and transport sectors (see Sect. 3.3.3) make it difficult to accommodate home and family lives, and are factors limiting women’s greater participation in these sectors. This chapter explores women’s working hours and what flexibility is available to them, and examines the interaction of their domestic and work arrangements. It finds that in the context of long and inflexible work patterns, atypical domestic situations are often required to support women in male-dominated work.

This chapter was adapted from Wright, T. 2014. Gender, sexuality and male-dominated work: The intersection of long-hours working and domestic life. Work, Employment and Society 28 (6): 985–1002. doi:10.1177/0950017013512713.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Tessa Wright

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  1. Tessa Wright
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Wright, T. (2016). Managing Working Hours and Domestic Life. In: Gender and Sexuality in Male-Dominated Occupations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50136-3_7

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