Shaping Management in Gendered Work: A Comparative Study in the Swedish Public Sector

2022. Tina Forsberg, Annika Härenstam. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration 26 (2), 89-112

Article

By exploring management in a study of different municipal departments, this paper contributes to a theoretical and empirical understanding of how the type of work shapes and reproduces management practices and inequality in working conditions within a horizontally segregated public sector. A structural theoretical model guides the design of the empirical qualitative study within education, elderly care and water supply in several Swedish municipalities. The comparative analysis shows that, while managers within water supply take control over management and are allowed to do so, managers in education and care are instructed to take personal responsibility when handling goal conflicts and lack of resources. Gendered norms and values inscribed in the type of work seem to be fundamentally integral to management practices, which affect the local manager’s authority and actions. The results of this study illustrate how management is practiced and reinforces differences in status between different types of work.

Classification of Work

2021. Annika Härenstam, Anna Nyberg. Gendered Norms at Work, 15-33

Chapter

It was a step forward when quantitative research began several decades ago to stratify survey data and analyses of working conditions by sex. However, more information is needed to uncover the mechanisms behind the gender differences that are often observed in such data. According to structuration and inequality theories (Tilly, 1999; Acker, 2012), explanations for differences between groups tend to be searched for mainly in individual-related factors when distinct categories such as women and men are compared. Differences in structural conditions such as how work is organized and how resources are allocated may not be apparent and therefore risk not to be approached in preventive actions. The horizontal gender segregation of the labour market is very consistent, although gendering and gender-typing are dynamic processes. Sectors, industries, services, production technologies, workplaces, work objects and job tasks are gendered, both with regard to symbolic gender connotations and the sex composition of the workers. The responsibility for organizing work and the work environment is placed on the employers at workplaces within industries. Also, structural and technological changes at the labour market are framed by the logic of industries. In this chapter, it is suggested that knowledge of the work environment as surveyed, analysed, and reported by industry type is suitable as a basis for identification of processes that contribute to inequality. Such information can be applied in the creation of healthy workplaces and prevention of work-related ill health for both women and men in differently gendered segments of the labour market.

Källor till förståelse av skillnader i psykisk ohälsa

2021. Annika Härenstam, Lisa Björk.

Report

Den offentliga statistiken och en stor del av forskningen om genus, arbetsmiljö och hälsa har de senaste decennierna varit noga med att dela upp kvinnor och män. Detta för att komma till rätta med den könsblindhet som tidigare karaktäriserade området. I föreliggande rapport argumenterar vi för att denna uppdelning riskerar att osynliggöra att strukturella och organisatoriska förutsättningar att skapa goda jobb skiljer sig åt mellan olika delar av arbetsmarknaden.

Produktion av materiella ting, kunskap respektive tjänster i direktkontakt med brukare och kunder kräver olika typer av organisering, styrning och resurser. Det är först med verksamhetsanpassad kunskap som källor till undermåliga arbetsförhållanden och arbetsrelaterad ohälsa kan synliggöras, adresseras och åtgärdas för att åstadkomma större jämställdhet i arbetslivet. Kvinnor och mäns olika arbetsvillkor har bäring på flera delmål i det jämställdhetspolitiska ramverket. Det påverkar möjligheter till makt, inflytande och ekonomisk jämställdhet, och det hänger samman med utbildningsval och hälsa.

Lagstiftningen är tydlig med att alla arbetstagare har rätt till en god arbetsmiljö. Det saknas dock kunskap om hur förutsättningarna ska se ut för att arbetsplatser i alla typer av verksamheter ska kunna omsätta arbetsmiljölagstiftningen i praktiken. Vi menar att det behövs mer jämförande analyser av kontextuella förhållanden på makronivå i olika branscher; analyser av hur exempelvis styrformer, digitalisering och samhälleliga kriser ”sipprar ner” och påverkar organisering, resurstilldelning, och utformning av arbetsmiljö för chefer och medarbetare. Det behövs mer kunskap om vilka organisatoriska förhållanden som gynnar utformning av hälsobefrämjande och jämställda arbetsplatser i alla typer av verksamheter.

Det behövs fler empiriska studier som länkar data på olika nivåer och som vid sidan av könsskillnader tar hänsyn till skillnader mellan och inom ”genuskodade” yrken, sektorer och branscher. Det är även viktigt att använda långa tidsserier som kan följa arbetsmiljöns utveckling. Det handlar om att påverka inriktningen på kunskapsunderlag, forskning och utbildning för att skapa handlingskraft bland politiker, myndigheter och arbetsmarknadens parter. Det handlar även om att förse experter såsom organisationskonsulter, HR-specialister och företagshälsovård med den kunskap de behöver för att bidra till ett hållbart och hälsosamt arbetsliv.

Psychosocial Working Conditions for Women and Men in Industries with Different Types of Production and Gender Composition

2021. Anna Nyberg (et al.). Gendered Norms at Work, 35-61

Chapter

The chapter aims to contribute to the understanding of increased gender differences in sickness absence and health by applying a structural approach, and by analysing and describing the development of and differences in psychosocial working conditions in differently gendered industries. Some psychosocial work factors are expected to vary by differently gendered industries, and others are expected to vary by differently gendered industries and gender combined. Descriptive and comparative data of psychosocial working conditions for women and men in Sweden from the 1990s and onwards are presented. The results show that job demands and decision authority have developed more negatively in female-gendered industries for both genders since the early 1990s, although more negatively for women. Job demands are furthermore higher and decision authority lower in these industries among both men and women. Gender-based and sexual harassment, on the other hand, show a pattern between gendered industries and gender combined, such that more harassment occurs for men in female-gendered industries and for women in male-gendered industries. The results are discussed in relation to contextual and gender perspectives.

Könssegregering, makt och arbetsmiljö

2020. Annika Härenstam, Tina Forsberg. Att arbeta för lika villkor, 103-130

Chapter

Development of job demands, decision authority and social support in industries with different gender composition - Sweden, 1991-2013

2019. Sara Cerdas (et al.). BMC Public Health 19

Article

Background

This study aims to explore the development of job demands, decision authority and social support within and between industries with different gender composition in Sweden between 1991 and 2013.

Methods

Cross-sectional data from 12 waves of the Swedish Work Environment Surveys (1991 to 2013), comprising in total 109,698 respondents, were used. Industries were classified in 7 categories according to its gender composition and main activity, comprising two female-dominated, three gender-mixed and two male-dominated industries. Proportions of workers reporting high job demands, low decision authority and poor social support between 1991 and 2013 were calculated. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate variation across time, using 1991 as the reference category, and between industries, using knowledge intensive services as the reference category. Estimates for high job demands, low decision authority and poor social support were presented as average marginal effects (AMEs).

Results

The probabilities of reporting low decision authority were higher in education and health and social care during the whole study period, for both genders, compared with the reference category of knowledge intensive services. The probability of having high job demands were higher for men and women in education, and women in health and social care, compared with the reference category. Men in the male dominated industries had increased job demands over time, compared to the beginning of the study period (1991). The probability of reporting poor social support was higher in the later than in the earliest time period for women in the female-dominated industry health and social care as well as in the gender-mixed labour intensive services industry.

Conclusions

There has been a negative development of job demands and decision authority in the female-dominated industries education and health and social care in Sweden, whereas social support has developed more negatively for women in health and social care and in labour intensive services.

Improving organizational and working conditions for managers in the Swedish public sector

2019. Annika Härenstam, Anders Pousette, Erik Berntson. Economic and Industrial Democracy

Article

The demands on managers seem to have increased as a consequence of management reforms. This study evaluates interventions aimed at improving working conditions and performance of managers in the Swedish public sector by changing organizational conditions. Six intervention organizations were compared to 34 reference organizations. Organizational conditions relevant for managerial work were surveyed and the results presented to the management teams who decided on the action plans and implemented changes. Fidelity to the intentions and contextual circumstances were documented. A psychometrically tested questionnaire was used for pre- and post-measurements of effects among a sample of 303 managers. The results showed that the interventions were associated with changes in managers' quality of work and performance. The evaluation design made it possible to show that organizational conditions can be changed in order to improve the operations managers' situation if there is fidelity to the intentions and support from the strategic level management.

Chef i kommunen

2018. Tina Forsberg Kankkunen (et al.). Att leda i en komplex organisation, 58-70

Chapter

Development of Organisational and Psychosocial Work Factors Across Industries with Different Gender Composition in Sweden, 2003-2013

2018. Sara Cerdas (et al.). Book of proceedings: 13th Conference of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, 34-35

Conference

Background: In Sweden, the development of mental ill-health and sickness absence has been poorer in female-dominated industries compared to others. One possible explanation is the different developments of psychosocial working conditions across industries. Men and women appear to react similarly to the same psychosocial exposures at work, but differences in exposure patterns may prevail. There is to date a lack of studies on the extent to which psychosocial work exposures are associated with the gender segregation on the Swedish labour market at the industry level. This study aims to investigate how organisational and psychosocial work factors have developed over time across industries with different gender composition in Sweden from 2003 to 2013, and to what extent these factors differ between industries.

Methods: The present study is based on repeated cross-sectional data from the Swedish Work Environment Survey (SWES). SWES is conducted biennially by Statistics Sweden (SCB) and includes Swedish workers aged 16-64 years. Six waves from 2003 to 2013, comprising a study sample of 45,631 subjects, were analysed, Industries were categorised according to gender composition and divided into seven categories: 1) Goods and energy production; 2) Machine handling; 3) Manual services; 4) Public administration; 5) Knowledge intensive services; 6) Education; 7) Health and social care. Proportions of men and women in each industry who were exposed to adverse or positive organisational and psychosocial work factors were calculated for each of the six waves. Logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, educational level and year of response to SWES were performed on the full sample (all six waves), in order to estimate the odds of being exposed to organisational and psychosocial work factors in each industry using the knowledge intensive service industry as the reference category.

Results: Preliminary results show that in female dominated industries (Education and Health and social care), many organisational and psychosocial work factors developed poorly over the study period. Higher odds of exposure to adverse or positive organisational and psychosocial work factors were found for several industries when using the industry of Knowledge intensive services as the reference category.

Conclusion: This study is one of the first of its kind analysing the development of organisational and psychosocial work factors, as well as differences in these factors between industries with different gender compositions in Sweden.

Annika HärenstamResearcher

Publications

Shaping Management in Gendered Work: A Comparative Study in the Swedish Public Sector

Classification of Work

Källor till förståelse av skillnader i psykisk ohälsa

Psychosocial Working Conditions for Women and Men in Industries with Different Types of Production and Gender Composition

Könssegregering, makt och arbetsmiljö

Development of job demands, decision authority and social support in industries with different gender composition - Sweden, 1991-2013

Improving organizational and working conditions for managers in the Swedish public sector

Chef i kommunen

Development of Organisational and Psychosocial Work Factors Across Industries with Different Gender Composition in Sweden, 2003-2013