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‘I’ll never be one of the boys’: Gender harassment of women working as pilots and automotive tradespeople

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  • Meraiah Foley
  • Sarah Oxenbridge
  • Rae Cooper
  • Marian Baird

Abstract

Significant research has examined sexual harassment in male‐dominated occupations, but gender harassment — harassment that is not necessarily sexual in nature but is targeted at individuals, or a group of individuals, because of their sex or gender — has received relatively less attention. Drawing on in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews, we analyse the lived experience of gender harassment among women working as pilots and automotive tradespeople in Australia. We find that women in these occupations face a daily barrage of belittling jokes and demeaning comments from colleagues, managers and customers, and such behaviours are retribution for encroaching on traditionally male occupational domains. Although women found these behaviours humiliating, intimidating, and offensive, they lacked a comprehensive vocabulary to define or condemn them. This article contributes to an emerging literature arguing that gender harassment needs to be more clearly problematized, organizationally and legally, as a form of sex‐based harassment constituting unlawful sex discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Meraiah Foley & Sarah Oxenbridge & Rae Cooper & Marian Baird, 2022. "‘I’ll never be one of the boys’: Gender harassment of women working as pilots and automotive tradespeople," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1676-1691, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:5:p:1676-1691
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12443
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laura Good & Rae Cooper, 2016. "‘But It's Your Job To Be Friendly’: Employees Coping With and Contesting Sexual Harassment from Customers in the Service Sector," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 447-469, September.
    2. McCarthy, Faye & Budd, Lucy & Ison, Stephen, 2015. "Gender on the flightdeck: Experiences of women commercial airline pilots in the UK," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 32-38.
    3. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah, 2006. "The sexual harassment of female active-duty personnel: Effects on job satisfaction and intentions to remain in the military," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 55-80, September.
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    5. Sandra Kensbock & Janis Bailey & Gayle Jennings & Anoop Patiar, 2015. "Sexual Harassment of Women Working as Room Attendants within 5-Star Hotels," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 36-50, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.

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