Trajectories of feminization in hospital work

Abstract

The goal of this study is to understand the pathways to the feminization within hospitals, comprehending the outcomes of sex division and gender relations at work based on a research performed in a hospital in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The methodology used was semi-structured interviews about the workers’ life paths and analysis of discourse. Nine women with a wide range of education and varied functions participated in this research. The analysis was made of the following elements: work as autonomy and sustenance; precarious female work due to sexual division of labor and beginning of career; female domestic work as under acknowledged; the double journey of being a mother and a worker; and caretaking as a natural attribution to the female health provider. It is concluded that these women feel fulfilled at work even being little recognized because of the social markers of gender and age. The research also made possible, when reviewing their trajectories during the interviews, that the participating workers reflect on the need to find strategies so that the feminization of labor is not extended to the next generation, and that hospital work is an activity that can produce health.