Women’s Perceptions of Training and Employment

Despite institutional declarations, women still rank second in key areas of society related to employment. The goal of this study was to analyse the perceptions of Spanish women taking occupational training courses and of gender equality experts with respect to the relationship between initial formal education, occupational training, continuing education and employment, as well as the role played by the family in this relationship, in order to elucidate conceptions of women’s social reality in the fields of education and employment. A qualitative methodology was employed, consisting of semi-structured, in-depth individual and group interviews with women taking occupational training courses. Interviews were also conducted with experts in gender equality. Working women’s conception of the relationship between training and employment is heavily influenced by the effect of gender socialisation, which leads them to assume the role of carer in the family. Women’s choice of training presents a clear gender bias that directly influences the jobs they hold. In many cases, these comprise subsistence activities that coincide with traditional female roles. However, women with a higher education present less dependence on gender roles. Socialisation in gender stereotypes is evident in working women’s discourse, and generates frustration at the impossibility of reconciling all the areas of responsibility assigned to them, leading them to relinquish any expectations of professional or personal development.