Women experience inequality in the labour market in various ways and intensities depending on their ethnicity/nationality. This study aims at providing an empirically sound understanding of how gender and ethnicity intersect to generate gender inequalities in the labour market.
Background
At present we still do not have a complete and differentiated understanding of how and why gender inequalities in the Swiss labour market persist. Three areas in particular need to be addressed: (a) how the intersection of gender and ethnicity/national origin generates unequal access to paid work, (b) the extent to which women succeed in applying, maintaining and further developing their professional qualifications in the labour market, (c) the strategies that they devise to counteract hurdles they face in the labour market and apply and acquire new professional qualifications.
Aim
Using a comparative perspective, this project aims to address the three areas presented above regarding both women of Swiss and non-Swiss origin that have vocational training or university education. The study combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Beyond statistical analysis of the 2009 Labour Force Survey, the methods of study include expert interviews, MINGA workshops and biographical interviews. The latter will be carried out with both members of couple households in order to understand how the professional careers of the man and the woman evolve before and after having children.
Significance
It is expected that the project’s findings will provide a comprehensive knowledge base for developing innovative policies towards gender equality in the labour market that: (a) build on a differentiated perspective, thus taking into account women of Swiss and non-Swiss origin, (b) address the problem from a dynamic perspective, thus devising measures that help to prevent the devaluation of women’s professional qualifications, (c) are resource-oriented, thus building on women’s own strategies, and (d) give special attention to the impact of household arrangements on the (unequal) situation of women in the labour market.
Original title: Understanding Inequalities in the Labour Market: The Intersection of Gender and Ethnicity
Grant: CHF 318‘863.-
Duration: 36 months
Project leaders
- Professor Doris Wastl-Walter, Geographisches Institut, University of Bern
- Dr. Yvonne Riaño, Geographisches Institut, University of Bern