The future of work and gender
Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Insight Paper
The ‘future of work’ has captured public imagination in recent years as business leaders, policymakers, media pundits and academics debate whether and how work as we know it will continue.
To date, discussion about the future of work has centred largely on the automation of jobs, and more often than not, men’s jobs. The report from the WGEA addresses the shortcoming of gender blindness and bias and seeks to provide a more balanced discourse on the future of work.
When discussion of the future of work is filtered through a gendered lens, three important themes emerge.
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First, women and men enjoy varying degrees of representation across occupations and fields, creating differential exposure to the risks and opportunities of work transformation.
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Second, work recognition is unevenly distributed across gender, with women’s work more likely to be invisible and/or devalued.
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Lastly, work-related rights such as autonomy, privacy and safety are distinctly shaped by gender identity.
This is an excerpt from ‘The future of work and gender’
