Women’s participation in teacher unions: Implications of a ‘triple burden’ for union gender equality strategies

Mihajla Gavin, Susan McGrath-Champ, Meghan Stacey and Rachel Wilson
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Mihajla Gavin: University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Susan McGrath-Champ: University of Sydney, Australia
Meghan Stacey: University of New South Wales, Australia
Rachel Wilson: University of Sydney, Australia

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2022, vol. 43, issue 2, 830-852

Abstract: Amidst declining union influence, teacher unions have retained power. However, work intensification, arising from increasing reform in school education, has potentially undermined union participation, particularly women’s. Using a mixed-method approach, this article examines how the tangled combination of women’s paid work, union participation and family/domestic responsibilities (the ‘triple burden’) affects women’s roles as unionists. Examining the case of Australian teachers, the article finds that while demands of ‘work’ and ‘life’ can stifle union participation, it is specifically the cultural and historical legacies in unions that hinder women’s participation. The findings offer new insights around issues affecting the participation of women in female-dominated unions, and the intersection between union organisation and operation and the member-workers whom they represent.

Keywords: Gender; teachers; unions; women; women’s participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:830-852

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X20958481

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