L'analyse de l'articulation des temps de vie au sein de la profession médicale en France : révélateur ou miroir grossissant des spécificités sexuées?

Cet article vise à identifier quelques-uns des écueils analytiques qui surgissent lors de recherches sur les pratiques et aspirations en matière d’articulation des temps de vie au sein d’un groupe professionnel particulier, celui des médecins. Caractérisée par de très longues durées du travail, la profession médicale offre également une grande « souveraineté temporelle ». Si l’éthos de la profession médicale a longtemps été fondé sur un principe de « disponibilité permanente », plusieurs facteurs participent à une remise en question de ce socle historique des identités professionnelles, surtout chez les jeunes générations de médecins des deux sexes. Toutefois, ce changement ne s’exprime pas toujours dans les mêmes registres : en situation d’entretien, les femmes évoquent plus spontanément des aspirations « d’équilibre » des temps professionnels et familiaux, alors que les hommes revendiquent la recherche d’un « équilibre » individuel, par le truchement de loisirs personnels. Reste à savoir dans quelle mesure ces différences discursives renvoient effectivement à des pratiques sexuées spécifiques ou traduisent plutôt un mécanisme d’ajustement des récits aux injonctions normatives qui continuent de peser sur l’acceptabilité sociale des pratiques (et aspirations) masculines et féminines en matière d’articulation des temps de vie.This article explores some of the analytical issues that arise when researching the use of time with respect to the work-life balance sought by a specific occupational group: French doctors. Characterized by extremely long hours, the French medical profession also offers a high level of “temporal sovereignty”. Although the professional ethos of doctors has been historically based on a principal of “total availability” for work, several factors have led to the partial erosion of this cornerstone of the doctor’s professional identity, particularly amongst the younger generations of both male and female physicians. However, from a gender perspective, this shift is not necessarily expressed in the same way: the female doctors interviewed tended to spontaneously evoke their desire to enjoy a better “balance” between work and family life, whereas the male doctors were more likely to stress their quest for personal well-being, through individual leisure time. It remains to be seen whether such a discursive gap does indeed bear witness to the existence of distinct gender-influenced practices or whether they simply translate an adjustment of the way doctors adapt their accounts of time use to the normative pressures that continue to define the social acceptability of male and female practices (and aspirations) with regard to a balance between work and life

Gendered Variations in the experience of Ageing at Work in Switzerland

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the gendered processes of ageing at work in Switzerland, a country already characterised by particularly high employment rates for seniors of both sexes, and where the notion of “active ageing” has recently appeared on the policy agenda. The study illustrates the mechanisms through which men and women accumulate dis-/advantage across the life course, and the influence that critical events in different life domains have on the conditions under which they prepare the transition to retirement.Design/methodology/approach– The data used in the paper were collected with a mixed methods approach, including secondary statistical data analysis, expert interviews (with human resource and line managers), company case studies and 63-biographical interviews with male and female seniors employed in three different sectors (food distribution, health, transport) of the Swiss labour market. The interview guide covered issues relating directly to the employment histories and working conditions of the over 50s, but also enabled respondents to reflect on the influence of past or recent events in their private lives on their experiences of ageing at work (and vice versa).Findings– The study shows that, in the Swiss context, ageing at work is a social experience, that is profoundly marked by societal-level normative “gender scripts” and by the gendered nature of major life-course transitions. However, rather than producing a clear distinction between the experiences of men on the one hand and women on the other, studying the accumulation of dis-/advantages (Dannefer, 2009) enables us to elaborate a more nuanced typology, mapping the Swiss experience of ageing at work according to four alternative ideal-type models: confident, resentful, determined and distressed.Social implications– In a context characterised by prolonged life expectancy and restricted welfare budgets, a clearer understanding of the conditions under which men and women make decisions about the continuation, interruption or adaptation of their professional activities (and care commitments) in the second half of their adult lives has clear implications, both for patterns of “active ageing” and for gender equality.Originality/value– The paper sheds new light on the gendered variations in the experience of ageing at work in the Swiss context; it examines the implications of the dis-/advantages accumulated by different categories of men and women during various transitions in the employment and family spheres on their autonomy, well-being and satisfaction during this critical period of their adult lives.</jats:sec