Labour and regional transition: sex-segregation, the absence of gender and the valorisation of masculinised employment in Gippsland, Australia

Abstract

This paper explores the place of gender in relation to labour and transition in regional development. A ‘gendered lens’ is applied to planning documents relating to the region of Gippsland, Australia. While previous research highlights the importance of accounting for gender in regional development, gendered analyses outside Europe are scarce. We argue that an apparent gender neutrality in planning documents in effect privileges masculinised elements of the economy. It means that current approaches to regional development, at best, reproduce the gendered status quo and, at worst, further re-entrench gender inequality in the region, with consequences for regional labour policy. Our findings have flow on effects for gender relations, and specifically for women, and economic policy in regions undergoing transition in Gippsland. We conclude that any regional policy that does not account for gendered realities and the lived experiences of women, ultimately fails the region.

Keywords:

• Australia
• gender inequality
• policy analysis
• regional development
• work segregation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the invaluable input of their colleague Valerie Prokopiv to the early stages of this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kate Farhall

Dr Kate Farhall is a researcher in the Centre for People, Organisation and Work at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Meagan Tyler

Dr Meagan Tyler is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management and a Research Theme Leader for Gender Equality in the Centre for People, Organisation and Work at RMIT University.

Peter Fairbrother

Professor Peter Fairbrother is the Deputy Director of the Centre for People, Organisation and Work at RMIT University and Affiliated Professor, Département de Gestion des Ressources Humaines, HEC Montréal, Canada.