Influence of gender on people with disabilities’ work relationships: prospects for ergonomics interventions

Abstract

Norms and values embedded in what is referred to as ‘institutionalised gender,’ defined by the distribution of power between genders in the political, educational, religious, medical, cultural or social institutions of a society, exist even today. The above mentioned influential institutions shape societal norms that define, reproduce and justify differing expectations and opportunities for women, men, girls and boys. Using qualitative methods, 41 semi-structured interviews among employed people with deafness/hard of hearing (DHH), blindness/low vision, motor disabilities, or chronic pain from three administrative regions of Québec (Montréal, Outaouais, and Montérégie) were analysed. The results show that while gender is omnipresent in participants’ remarks, it is not necessarily associated with exclusion from employment, but most certainly with perpetuating some forms of inequity in work situations. Solutions to raise awareness among ergonomists working with people with disabilities are suggested.

Practitioner summary: Based on 41 semi-structured interviews among employed people with disabilities, a relationship between the gender of the participants and factors facilitating or inhibiting their integration into employment were established. Solutions to raise awareness among ergonomists working with a doubly marginalised population—women with disabilities—are suggested.

Abbreviations: DEPPI: disability, employment, and public policies initiative; DHH: deaf or hard of hearing; LSQ: québec sign language; M: men; P: participant; s/g: sex and gender; W: women

Keywords:

• Sex and gender
• population with disabilities
• labour-market participation
• inclusive environment
• workplace integration

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 It should be noted that participants interviewed prior to the pandemic were not interviewed again afterwards.

2 Work domains as defined by the Government of Québec

3 On 74 meaning units, 24 corresponded to negative relationships. Of these, 19 were reported by women and 68% referred to opposite sex relationships. Of the negative woman-woman meaning units (32%), all refer to superiors, not colleagues.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [number 890-2016-3048].