Men ‘face discrimination in female-dominated sectors’

MEN applying for female-dominated jobs such as childcare are “significantly” discriminated against, a study says.

Male applicants for jobs involving cleaning and working with children were half as likely to be successful as females, according to researchers from Linköping University in Sweden.

However, no discrimination existed against women applying for jobs in male-dominated occupations, they said.

The researchers submitted fictional applications to real job advertisements for 15 professions. They recorded whether the applicant was invited for an interview. Jobs categorised as maledominated included mechanic, truck driver, IT developer and warehouse worker. Those considered female-dominated were cleaner, child-carer, preschool teacher, customer service worker, accounting clerk and nurse.

Men struggled the most to get cleaning jobs, the study, published in the journal PLOS One, found. While 28 per cent of women got an interview, only 12 per cent of male applicants did. Jobs in childcare were also more difficult for men to secure, with only 26 per cent of men being invited to interview, compared with 53 per cent of women.

Despite this apparent struggle for men to succeed in stereotypically female-dominated roles, women seemingly had no trouble progressing in applications to male-dominated jobs.

Male and female applicants to be a truck driver were equally likely to be called for an interview. Meanwhile, for IT developer roles, 42 per cent of women secured interviews, compared with 39 per cent of men, it found.