In recent decades, many male-dominated jobs have contracted, while many female-dominated jobs have increased. Scholars have tied these changes to men’s declining employment rates; yet, little attention has been paid to unemployed men’s consideration of work associated with women. Based on a sample of 441 unemployed men, we used an experimental survey design to examine the likelihood that unemployed men pass up applying to a job based on the job’s gender composition, masculine/feminine-typed skills, and pay. We also examined their perceptions about how other unemployed men would respond to such jobs. We supplement these findings with content analyses of qualitative responses for why unemployed men would or would not work in a female-dominated job. Our findings suggest that unemployed men were willing to work in jobs with a higher proportion of women, but resisted jobs requiring them to perform feminine-typed skills, even if it meant being unemployed longer. Notably, respondents believed other men would be more likely to pass applying to both female-dominated jobs and jobs that required feminine-typed skills. Broadly, this study sheds important light on how unemployed men perceive non-traditional work and identifies key factors that contribute to men’s persistent low representation in jobs associated with women.

中文翻译：

---

性别技能和失业男性对“女性工作”的抵制

近几十年来，许多男性主导的工作减少了，而女性主导的工作却增加了。学者们将这些变化与男性就业率的下降联系起来；然而，很少有人注意到失业男子对与妇女有关的工作的考虑。基于 441 名失业男性的样本，我们使用实验性调查设计来检查失业男性根据工作的性别构成、男性/女性类型技能和薪酬拒绝申请工作的可能性。我们还研究了他们对其他失业男子会对此类工作作出反应。我们通过对失业男性为何会或不会从事女性主导的工作的定性反应的内容分析来补充这些发现。我们的研究结果表明，失业男性愿意从事女性比例较高的工作，但拒绝要求他们具备女性技能的工作，即使这意味着失业时间更长。值得注意的是，受访者认为其他男性更有可能通过申请女性主导的工作和需要女性类型技能的工作。从广义上讲，这项研究揭示了失业男性如何看待非传统工作，并确定了导致男性在与女性相关的工作中的代表性持续偏低的关键因素。