IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v29y2022i2p371-387.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“A trade of one's own”: The role of social and cultural capital in the success of women in male‐dominated occupations

Author

Listed:
  • Donna Bridges
  • Larissa Bamberry
  • Elizabeth Wulff
  • Branka Krivokapic‐Skoko

Abstract

The skilled trades are highly gender segregated occupations. Unsurprisingly, research about women in this male‐dominated sector focuses on the various barriers to inclusion. In contrast, this article identifies factors that have contributed to women's successes. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with tradeswomen, we found that the success factors for women in the skilled trades were aligned with social and cultural capital. Findings also indicate that women's success is driven by their individual attributes and resources rather than any forms of systematic support. There is limited evidence of a coordinated approach from industry and government to increase gender equity and inclusion. Success for women is, therefore, most likely to be singularly occurring, unpredictable and difficult to replicate. We use a Bourdieusian approach to understand how capital facilitates women's success and how forms of capital can be translated into measurable and repeatable strategies. We argue that capital offers women an opportunity to circumvent traditional resistance to gender inclusion because it provides cultural legitimacy. Replicating social and cultural capital through industry initiatives that are measurable and repeatable are likely to be the most constructive ways forward. We recommend a coordinated industry approach to improve diversity and inclusion in the sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Donna Bridges & Larissa Bamberry & Elizabeth Wulff & Branka Krivokapic‐Skoko, 2022. "“A trade of one's own”: The role of social and cultural capital in the success of women in male‐dominated occupations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 371-387, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:371-387
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12764
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12764
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12764?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Justin Byrne & Linda Clarke & Marc Van Der Meer, 2005. "Gender and ethnic minority exclusion from skilled occupations in construction: a Western European comparison," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 1025-1034.
    2. Valerie Francis, 2017. "What influences professional women’s career advancement in construction?," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 254-275, May.
    3. Sandra Fielden & Marilyn Davidson & Andrew Gale & Caroline Davey, 2000. "Women in construction: the untapped resource," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 113-121.
    4. Kristina Johansson & Elias Andersson & Maria Johansson & Gun Lidestav, 2020. "Conditioned openings and restraints: The meaning‐making of women professionals breaking into the male‐dominated sector of forestry," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 927-943, November.
    5. Donna Bridges & Elizabeth Wulff & Larissa Bamberry & Branka Krivokapic-Skoko & Stacey Jenkins, 2020. "Negotiating gender in the male-dominated skilled trades: a systematic literature review," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 894-916, October.
    6. Adrian Wilkinson & Stewart Johnstone & Keith Townsend, 2012. "Changing patterns of human resource management in construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 507-512, July.
    7. Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell & Martin Loosemore & Louise Chappell, 2015. "Designing robust and revisable policies for gender equality: lessons from the Australian construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5-6), pages 375-389, June.
    8. Andrew Agapiou, 2002. "Perceptions of gender roles and attitudes toward work among male and female operatives in the Scottish construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(8), pages 697-705.
    9. Tessa Wright, 2013. "Uncovering sexuality and gender: an intersectional examination of women's experience in UK construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(8), pages 832-844, August.
    10. Margaret Whittock, 2002. "Women's experiences of non-traditional employment: is gender equality in this area a possibility?," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 449-456.
    11. Tonia Warnecke, 2013. "Entrepreneurship and Gender: An Institutional Perspective," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 455-464.
    12. Louisa Smith, 2013. "Trading in gender for women in trades: embodying hegemonic masculinity, femininity and being a gender hotrod," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(8), pages 861-873, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hammad Akbar & Haya Al‐Dajani & Nailah Ayub & Iman Adeinat, 2023. "Women's leadership gamut in Saudi Arabia's higher education sector," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1649-1675, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Donna Bridges & Elizabeth Wulff & Larissa Bamberry, 2023. "Resilience for gender inclusion: Developing a model for women in male‐dominated occupations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 263-279, January.
    2. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Tessa Wright, 2016. "Women's Experience of Workplace Interactions in Male-Dominated Work: The Intersections of Gender, Sexuality and Occupational Group," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 348-362, May.
    3. Liyaning (Maggie) Tang & Shaleeza Sohail & Emma Shorthouse & Larissa Sullivan & Matthew Williams, 2022. "Put Gender on the Tender in Australian Public Projects," World, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-11, September.
    4. Elisa Peñalvo-López & Francisco-Javier Cárcel-Carrasco, 2019. "An Analysis about Learning to IncreaseWomen’s Participation and Employment in Europe’s Energy Transition: Evidence from the European Project MEnS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Natalie Galea & Louise Chappell, 2022. "Male‐dominated workplaces and the power of masculine privilege: A comparison of the Australian political and construction sectors," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1692-1711, September.
    6. Yuvaraj Dhanasekar & Kaliyaperumal Sugirthamani Anandh & Mariusz Szóstak, 2023. "Development of the Diversity Concept for the Construction Sector: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Wendy O’Brien & Clare Hanlon & Vasso Apostolopoulos, 2023. "Women as leaders in male‐dominated sectors: A bifocal analysis of gendered organizational practices," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 1867-1884, November.
    8. Estrin, Saul & Guerrero, Maribel & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2024. "A framework for investigating new firm entry: The (limited) overlap between informal-formal and necessity-opportunity entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    9. Elena Casprini & Tommaso Pucci & Lorenzo Zanni, 2023. "From growth goals to proactive organizational resilience: first evidence in women-led and non-women-led Italian wineries," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1017-1036, April.
    10. Vera Hoelscher & Ratna Khanijou & Daniela Pirani, 2023. "Changing informal institutions via mimesis: Gender equality in marriage proposals," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 52-67, January.
    11. Francis K. W. Wong & Albert P. C. Chan & Andy K. D. Wong & Carol K. H. Hon & Tracy N. Y. Choi, 2018. "Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, March.
    12. Amparo Serrano‐Pascual & Carlota Carretero‐García, 2022. "Women’s entrepreneurial subjectivity under scrutiny: Expert knowledge on gender and entrepreneurship," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 666-686, March.
    13. Karen Maguire & John V. Winters, 0. "Satisfaction and Self-employment: Do Men or Women Benefit More from Being Their Own Boss?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 0, pages 1-27.
    14. Johansson, Kristina & Johansson, Maria & Andersson, Elias, 2023. "All talk and no action? Making change and negotiating gender equality in Swedish forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Valerie Caven & Elena Navarro Astor & Vita Urbanavičienė, 2022. "Gender inequality in an “Equal” environment," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1658-1675, September.
    16. Samuel Heimann & Kristina Johansson, 2024. "Gendered work in geoscience: Hard work in a masculine field," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 16-35, January.
    17. SAKA Najimu & MOYANGA Dorcas Titilayo & ADEGBEMBO Taiwo Fadeke, 2022. "Factors Limiting the Participation of Women Construction Professionals (WCPs) in the Nigerian Construction Sector (NCS)," Noble International Journal of Scientific Research, Noble Academic Publsiher, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, March.
    18. Kathleen Riach & Gavin Jack, 2021. "Women’s Health in/and Work: Menopause as an Intersectional Experience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-17, October.
    19. Fatma Lestari & Riza Yosia Sunindijo & Martin Loosemore & Yuni Kusminanti & Baiduri Widanarko, 2020. "A Safety Climate Framework for Improving Health and Safety in the Indonesian Construction Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Pipiet Larasatie & Dagmar Karisch-Gierer & Alice Ludvig, 2022. "Women’s Woodland Owner Network: A Comparative Case Study of Oregon (the United States) and Austria," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:371-387. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.