Background to the Research

• Much of the research carried out into women and employment has focused on those types of employment such as teaching, nursing and clerical work, 'traditionally' taken up by women. This research explores women's involvement in 'non-traditional' blue-collar employment in Northern Ireland.
  

Research Approach

• The author charts the participation of women in non-traditional employment through the use of data from the 1991 Census and explores the experiences of some non-traditionally employed women through a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews.
  

Main Findings

Women's Participation Rates in Non-traditional Employment in Northern Ireland

• In 1971, prior to the introduction of sex equality legislation the Census listed only one female engineer, 18 female motor mechanics, 43 female drivers of roads goods vehicles, and no female bus/coach drivers.
• By 1981, after the introduction of sex equality legislation, there were 12 female engineers, 27 female motor mechanics and 128 women bus, coach or lorry drivers. This slow upward trend continued throughout the 1980's.
• Occupational segregation is also a factor within public sector employment. In 1991, 115,811 women were employed in the sector compared to 86,676 men. Within the sector women are over-represented in clerical work (for example in the Department of Health & Social Services), and men in the prison, fire services and police.

The Living Experiences of Women in Non-Traditional Employment

• When choosing a non-traditional career, women reported being influenced by families and by fathers in particular.
• In general, career education in school was reported in very negative terms, as some women felt that they were being steered away from non-traditional careers.
• Women reported feeling that they had to work harder to prove themselves in a male dominated environment and the fact that women are usually physically weaker than men was often used as a reason to exclude them from non-traditional employment. Yet, women indicated that excessive physical strength was not necessary to carry out a non-traditional job, as any heavy lifting was usually undertaken by more than one person or with the help of machinery.
• The fact that many non-traditional forms of employment involve a dirty environment was often cited by training instructors/employers as a reason why women did not wish to enter these forms of employment. However, the women interviewed accepted these conditions as being part of the job and 'nothing to complain about'.
• Some women reported feeling that they were the 'token' female among a large group of men. Few women reported feeling isolated and most explained that they had made an effort to understand how men might find it difficult to know how to respond to the presence of a woman in a traditionally male environment.
• According to the survey, active harassment of women in non-traditional employment appeared not to be the norm, although more subtle forms of discrimination were reported. For example, male colleagues would act to protect women from certain tasks, undermining the woman's authority and ability to do the job.
• Where some men initially changed their behaviour in the presence of a female co-worker, this was usually short-lived and they reverted to the norms of a male environment.
• In general, where the women were in a position of authority they managed to maintain friendly relations with their male subordinates, although one woman reported that a male employee objected to taking orders from a woman.

Conclusions

• While the level of women's participation in the workplace has increased dramatically in the last twenty years, few women work in non-traditional employment. This can partly be accounted for by the image of non-traditional employment presented to women, the physical demands and dirty conditions of the work, its unsocial hours and lack of childcare facilities.
• The survey results demonstrate that women are very capable of doing non-traditional jobs and women reported bringing certain 'female' qualities that they felt enhanced their respective areas of employment. These included tidiness, attention to detail, better communication and negotiating skills.
• Those women surveyed surmounted the barriers to non-traditional employment and appeared to be successful and to enjoy their work.