Gender, poverty and job seeking: women at risk of exclusion in Spain

ABSTRACT

Vulnerable women and women at risk of social exclusion make up a very large collective. This group includes quite a broad range of personal situations, but all its members share one particular characteristic: gender linked to social vulnerability (poverty). The general objective of this research is to learn what difficulties these women experience, based on discourse analysis applied to their life experiences. Four discussion groups and nine interviews were held. The women interviewed referred explicitly to three areas of discrimination: family discrimination, social discrimination and economic discrimination. In this sense, cognitive, family and economic aspects intertwine in the women’s discourses and define the lines of analysis. The women’s opinions and rationales, their ways of expressing themselves and their attitudes towards jobs all reflect the influence of society and each woman’s own culture. Their arguments vary widely, but they generally lead to the same conclusions.

KEYWORDS:

• Social and occupational discrimination
• masculinized stereotype
• risk of social exclusion
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sonia Santoveña-Casal

Carmen Navarro García-Suelto teaches at a public primary school in Castilla la Mancha, is professor of social science teaching methods at Rey Juan Carlos University and is a lecturer in the Spanish National University of Distance Education’s university master’s degree programme on networked communication and education. Her research focuses on innovation in teaching methods in the field of social sciences, especially in contexts of vulnerability or risk of social exclusion.

Sonia Santoveña-Casal is professor at the Department of Education, School Organization and Special Education, National University of Distance Education, Spain. Her research focuses on the analysis of digital methodology, social networks and interpersonal relationships generated in the digital society. She is the coordinator of the Communication Group for Educational Innovation, Social Networks and New Narratives (CoReN).