Affiliations: CPUP – Centro de Psicologia da Universidade do Porto,
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade
do Porto, Porto, Portugal | CEDH – Centro de Estudos em Desenvolvimento Humano,
Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia, Centro Regional do Porto da
Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal
Note: [] Corresponding author: Liliana Cunha, CPUP – Centro de
Psicologia da Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências
da Educação da Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen,
4200-135, Porto, Portugal. Tel.: +351 226 079 700; Fax: +351 226 079 725;
E-mail: lcunha@porto.ucp.pt
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Bus driving is a typically male occupation undergoing
a process of feminization. Although men remain a majority, women's integration
has raised some questions, namely, related to work organization or its impact on health. OBJECTIVE: This paper focuses on the contributions of
assuming a gender perspective in the analysis of the bus driving occupation and
the conditions under which it is performed. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty female and 158 male bus drivers. METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative approaches were combined. Ergonomic work analysis and individual
interviews were used, as well as INSAT (Work and Health Questionnaire). RESULTS: Difficulties inherent to the work activity were highlighted,
in terms of working hours and management of "peripheral tasks", with
implications for the balance between professional and personal life. These
difficulties were reported differently by men and women, although both made
themselves clear about the impact on their career and health. CONCLUSIONS: Taking gender into consideration has enabled an
enrichment of the questions that guide the analysis of this work activity, and
contributed to a new perspective on the work performed by this occupational
group as well as a new approach to study the history of the transport industry
by proposing as focus of analysis issues related to "gender mobility".
Keywords: Typically male job, working hours, ergonomic work analysis, professional and personal life reconciliation, health
