Revisiting the gendered division of labour in Swedish forestry: What has changed the last decade?

Abstract

The Swedish labour market is relatively gender segregated and the forest sector is no exception, with a dominance of men among forest owners, users and employees. Gender segregation affects working conditions and constitutes a significant obstacle to gender equality. Within the forest sector, awareness and efforts linked to gender equality have increased over the last decade through e.g., the sector's national gender-equality strategy launched in 2011 and a sector-specific #metoo appeal in 2017. In relation to the strategy, men and women with higher-education degrees in forestry were surveyed about their conditions and experiences in the forest labour market. The survey showed, among other things, clear patterns of gender segregation. A decade after, this study revisits the survey, with 860 responses and a response rate of 53 %, to investigate whether and how conditions, experiences and gender segregation have changed. The result shows a small decline in the overall gender segregation, but a persistence with respect to employer, work area and professional function. This affects and shapes men's and women's experience of, and conditions for, their work, which contribute to, for example, that women have been exposed to discrimination and harassment and left the sector to a greater extent than men.

Keywords

Gender segregation; Vulnerability; Working life; Survey; Higher forest education; Labour market

Published in

Forest Policy and Economics
2025, volume: 174, article number: 103477
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Andersson, Elias

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science
Gender Studies

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103477

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141636