Abstract
ABSTRACT The Norwegian Labour market is both vertically and horizontally segregated in terms of gender. Men are over-represented in the private sector while women dominate the public sector, and there are differences in what hierarchal positions they hold and their general income. One of the most gender segregated sector in the labour market is the construction industry. They are now looking to recruit more women, but the process is slow, and the industry have been criticised for recruiting women into an industry that is not properly prepared for it. This thesis is based on 3 months of fieldwork and six interviews. By using a theoretical framework based on gender, masculinity, femininity, socialisation, and habitus I analyse my subjects’ perception of work environment, differential treatment, and sexual harassment with the aim to understand what measures that may be needed in order for the construction industry to succeed in recruiting more women. The lingering of outdated stereotypes still has a partial hold on society. The masculine construction worker is one of those stereotypes that may give rise to mental barriers hindering women from entering this sector. Another explanation is perhaps that these stereotypes make people unconsciously label tasks as inherently feminine or masculine. As children form images at an early age concerning what tasks men and women perform, it is also important that the school and educational system do not contribute in strengthening these images. Further, an including work environment is crucial for making women choose the construction industry and making them want to continue. There are aspects of the work environment that can be considered excluding as women experience differential treatment and sexual harassment. It is however possible to trace an inter-generational shift in attitudes amongst the men in my study as the younger generation seemed less sceptical of female colleagues and seemed to consider the “macho-culture” outdated.