Affiliations: Department of Business Administration and Social
Sciences, Division of Business Administration and Management, Luleå
University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden | Section of Personal Injury Prevention, Department of
Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Sofia Reinholdt, Division of
Business Administration and Management, Luleå University of Technology,
SE-971 89 Luleå, Sweden. Tel.: +46 920 491361; Fax: +46 920 492849;
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This study examined some plausible explanations for the higher rates
of ill-health seen in extremely gender-segregated occupations. The focus was on
the work experiences of disability pensioners with last jobs prior to
pensioning characterized by segregated conditions (i.e., less than 10% of
the employees of their own sex). Seven interviews were subjected to qualitative
content analyses focusing on aspects of health selection, gender differences in
work tasks, and in the work situation. The results show a negative health
selection into occupations in which the participants constitute an extreme
minority. There were some differences in work tasks between the gender in
extreme minority and the other gender. Exposure to different stress factors
related to the minority status included increased visibility, performance
pressure, and harassment. Gender had been of main importance for differences in
exposure, for assigning work tasks, and for interaction dynamics between the
groups in majority and extreme minority. Conclusions: A combination of
negative health selection, gender marking of work tasks, and group interaction
dynamics related to group proportions and gender may play a role in cumulative
health risks. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to identify mechanisms
and interactions in this context in order to better understand possible
relationships between occupational gender segregation and increased health
risks.
Keywords: Gender, gender segregation, disability pension, health selection, token, work tasks, work situation
