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THE LIVES OF UNORTHODOX WORKERS: A QUALITATIVE

INVESTIGATION ON THE EXPERIENCES OF MEN AND

WOMEN IN UNCONVENTIONAL CAREERS

ABASTA, FREVILYN H.

FLORES, PRINCES APRIL B.

GERABAN, HARVEY T.

MANUGAS, SARA ANGELICA R.

MENDOZA, ROVIGIN B.

PELAEZ, KAY-ANN C.

BSN 2y1-3b

PHIL DARREN E. AGUSTIN

INSTRUCTOR, ETIC211

College of Arts and Sciences

Our Lady of Fatima University

Cabanatuan Campus

December 2020
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THE LIVES OF UNORTHODOX WORKERS: A QUALITATIVE

INVESTIGATION ON THE EXPERIENCES OF MEN AND

WOMEN IN UNCONVENTIONAL CAREERS

I. INTRODUCTION

Ever since the dawn of human civilization, humanity has

divided responsibilities and jobs for men and women; men were

tasked with heavy lifting jobs, while women took care of the children

and the elderly. Many ancient civilizations like Greece, Rome, and

Egypt differ from their modern counterparts in terms of division of

labor. But besides the difference in jobs, men and women also had

a difference in rights. in Ancient Greece, women had fewer rights

and had no political power or even citizenship (“Role of Women in

Ancient Greece”, 1998). Men were allowed to vote and participate

in politics, while women spent their days taking care of children and

the elderly, watching over the slaves, sewing and weaving clothes

for the family, cleaning the house, preparing the meals, and

managing the family’s money. According to George (2015), Women

and girls were not allowed to be educated or go to school. Men, on

the other hand, had a lot more rights than women. It was described

that men were expected to work outside. They could participate in

politics and had a say in the government. Men could be farmers,

merchants, artisans, politicians, or an aristocrat. Men could also be

actors, entertainers, architects, construction workers, judges,

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fishermen, or authors. But as time passed, this division became

less of a necessity.

An Unorthodox Worker is a person who works at a job that

is not traditionally recommended for their gender. In the current

society of the Philippines, these people are fairly common; many

careers like police officers and politicians have many notable

people from the opposite gender. Take, for example, the late

Miriam Defensor-Santiago, she was one of the most popular and

politically influential women in Philippine history. Galvez (2016)

indicated that throughout the senator’s career, Miriam

Defensor-Santiago has authored laws that shaped the Philippines

to advance and evolve. Some of these laws are the Reproductive

Health Act of 2012, the Sin Tax Law, and the Climate Change Act

of 2009. Despite her battle with lung cancer, Senator Miriam

Santiago was able to file 1324 bills and resolutions, the highest

amongst her colleagues in the senate.

There are a lot of unorthodox workers that are well known

for their success, but they also have constant issues and

inconveniences that have to be dealt with, women, for example,

experience sexual harassment. According to Golshan (2016), The

EEOC released a comprehensive study of workplace harassment in

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the United States, which concluded that anywhere from 25% to

85% of women report having experienced sexual harassment in the

workplace in 2016. It’s a strikingly wide gap, but one that is very

substantial even in its most conservative estimate, statistically

predicting one in four people are affected by workplace sexual

harassment.

These workers are the focus of this topic. Essentially, the

objective of this research is to have a deeper understanding of

these workers. Gaines (2017) stated that the women who choose to

partake in a male-dominated career face a variety of challenges

such as lack of support, lower-income, mistreatment and unfairness

in their role, and overall lack of voice. Gaines (2017) also

mentioned that there are two key challenges women face in

predominantly male careers are a lack of support from their

colleagues and a lack of equitable income. Attempting to fix the

lack of support, women that do decide to try male-dominated

careers may be more concerned with the interpersonal

relationships they make rather than the work they are doing. The

mistreatment and lack of understanding of women in male majority

careers can make women eager to find support within their field.

They may try to find support and fit in with the male population

majority by adapting to male behaviors. Along with these

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challenges, women receive lower economic gains than males in the

same field. It is also able to figure out the causes of their problems

and provided a solution to them.

The purpose of this research is to study the daily lives of

unorthodox workers and to gather enough information to give a

deeper understanding of these workers and contribute to the

knowledge that the readers may learn about these unorthodox

workers. Additionally, the readers may be able to be encouraged in

treating unorthodox workers better and learn how to approach

them. Furthermore, the unorthodox workers’ peers and superiors

will have more information about them and clear the

misconceptions that they have about these workers. Lastly, this

study will help future researchers that will be tackling unorthodox

workers as a source of prior information and related literature for

their investigation

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter contains a review of related literature and

various concepts on the subject under study presented by various

researchers, scholars, theorists, and authors which are related to

the advantages and disadvantages in relation to work in

unconventional careers.
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During these current times, choices in taking

non-traditional careers has been considered as something that no

longer causes controversies in the context of genders. Hansen

(2019) explained that there are certain instances during which

individuals choose their careers, they are urged to participate in

certain careers which are considered correct with their own gender,

males are usually accepted to take up careers that are dominant

and highlight masculinity, while females are expected to take

careers which are much gentle and more feminine.

Tradition has always been what is pursued in most

cases especially when it becomes what is considered to be right

and wrong, the role of man and woman has always been apart and

is never considered exchangeable. Women especially are

considered to be home makers who are responsible for

housekeeping, baking and pastry production, as well as dress

making. However the progress of society has drawn the motivation

of women to careers which are dominated by men for the sake of a

well-paying job internationally or locally. (San Pedro & Angon,

2012)
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According to George (2015), women and girls are

expected to stay at home and manage the household, they are not

allowed to partake in any academic or political activities. On the

other hand, men have more rights over women and are expected to

work for the family as they have access in academics, business,

and political activities.

Hansen (2019) elucidates that career planning must

not consider gender stereotypes, he further explained that

individuals are allowed to follow their interests, dreams, and skills

regardless of their gender and be able utilize it to their will without

discrimination. Alcaraz (2019) mentioned that rights for women

had come a long way since those days where women were merely

considered for marriage and motherhood, when it was considered

unthinkable for women to step outside their roles and take the role

of men.

Hedreen (2019) further elaborates how jobs have

been labeled with stereotypes, wherein women are more fit in

nurturing careers and men are expected to be decision-makers. He

also explained as to how certain jobs that are considered prior to be

a ‘female job’, became a man’s job as it became too advanced and

too difficult for women, and men are much suitable workers.
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As some companies began to recognize a strategy to

increase the number of female workers in unconventional careers

(Broderick, 2013), this neither completely remove the ideology that

certain jobs are not fit for the opposite gender nor does it lessen the

discrimination and harrassment faced by these unorthodox

workers.

Despite this, people presently assume that certain

jobs should fit the roles of the gender, with this said, women are

expected to take up careers that reflect their compassionate and

caring nature. Which causes male employees in this line of work to

be considered as a tool for improvement of the gender balance in

the workplace. (Cary-Alvarez, n.d.)

Etz (2017) compiled the day-to-day experiences faced

by women in a male-dominated workplace. Several of the

experiences include immense comparison and discrimination of

position, skills, and capabilities of a woman and man. Accounts

include an added pressure to work just because a different gender

stands out in most cases, the assumption that these employees do

not know nor understand the job, lack of respect received from

co-workers, clients or customers, and occasional unwanted

physical touch.
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Non Traditional Careers (n.d.) taken on the account of

the male employees who are working in a female-dominated

careers, it was explained that promotion for wage equity and

self-sufficiency had highlighted the rights for women. But this

mentality had changed overtime, men are now encouraged to take

on unconventional careers.

However this does not simply mean that men does

not face difficulties working in unconventional careers, Cary-Alvarez

(n.d.) explained that some men feels discouraged in taking careers

since they are used in seeing women perform these types of jobs,

men also face stereotypes where their personal lives was

associated to work and therefore may cause further isolation of the

employee from his co-workers, and even clients or customers.

Rose (2019) compiled accounts from women carrying

the message for gender equality and equal opportunity in the

workplace. This promotes hiring based on talent, skills, and

contributions for the improvement of the company, it also

encourages employers to listen to their employees and their

troubles so that it may be dealt with immediately. They are also

hopeful that more men would step up to join the movement of

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gender discrimination in the workplace and hopes for a cultural

change in the workplace and gender-based careers.

III. PROBLEM FORMULATION

The study uses case analysis, and aims to unveil the

impacts of the experiences of men and women in unorthodox

careers. Specifically, the study sought the following problems:

1. What are the profiles of employees in terms of:

1.1. age;

1.2. sex;

1.3. occupation

2. What are the problems faced by unorthodox employees

in the workplace every day?

3. How do co-workers or partners in the workplace treat

unorthodox workers?

4. What motivates and encourages these workers to

continuously do better in their career?

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IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the study will benefit the following:

The Company Administration​. To be able to know the

situation of unorthodox workers and their experiences, the

result of this study helps them to give importance to the needs

and safety of their employees. By giving attention to this kind

of factor may help improve the overall situation of the

company as well as the performance of their workers.

The Unorthodox Workers​. These workers are discriminated

against and looked down upon in workplaces wherein their

genders are considered unfit for the role they stand upon. This

study will help these workers to assess their rights as an

employee in a company.

The Graduates​. Graduates who are beginning their careers

would face different types of co-workers in different types of

workplaces. This study will help graduates in understanding

the settings inside the workplace with the testimonies of the

respondents regarding their experiences. With this, it will

prepare them for their interactions with their co-workers and

the company.
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The Students​. This study will benefit students who aim to take

unconventional careers, this will serve as an academic

reference to students regarding the necessary factors on the

advantages and disadvantages in pursuit of unconventional

careers.

The Future Researchers​. The result of this study will help

future researchers to elaborate on a wide range of cultural,

professional, and ethucal factors that are warranted to improve

understanding of the experiences of men and women in

unorthodox careers, for the improvement of employee rights in

a workplace, and against discrimination towards gender.

V. METHOD

This chapter introduced the technique and the type of

designs, strategies, approaches, and analyses used by the

researchers, to know the experiences of men and women in

unconventional careers.

This chapter also presents the method of research used in

the study, the research design, the sample and sampling

procedure, the data gathering technique utilized, the research

instrument used and data gathering procedures employed in

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gathering pertinent data on the experiences of men and women in

unconventional careers.

A. RESEARCH DESIGN

In this research, a Qualitative Phenomenological Method is

used. According to Waters (2017), qualitative phenomenological

research aims to describe a "lived experience" of a phenomenon.

As this is a qualitative analysis of data, methods to analyze its data

must be quite different from more traditional or quantitative

methods of research. Essentially, this approach focuses on

meaning, the meaning of the experience, behavior, narrative, etc.

Since the topic is about daily experiences, it is by far the best

method to use to gather more information and to provide a better

explanation of the everyday phenomena of the workers.

B. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

For this study, the researchers used interview guides with

open-ended questions built for one-on-one interviews that helped

them gather additional information from the interviewees. A

question guide was also used by the interviewer to assist in the

interview’s flow; it contains both general and personal questions.

The questions are in line with the methodology, investigation on the

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experiences of men and women in unconventional careers. ​A guide

question design by the researcher will also be used in the study.

C. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

Participants must be assured that all information they give

will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, and will not be

disclosed to anyone else with prior consent and that their

anonymity will be respected and will remain that way for the

duration of the study. There is also an obligation on participants to

participate in research for which they have volunteered. However,

participants must have the right to withdraw from the research at

any given time without penalty or the need for a reason.

Participants can also require that the data given by them will be

withdrawn from the study. ​A legal obligation of the researchers is to

obtain and record consent from the participants or their guardians

based on Article 17 of the Protocol to the Convention on Human

​ he researchers
Rights in Biomedicine or Biomedical Research. T

are obliged to present proper citations to avoid plagiarizing other

people’s work, and that the authors are given proper credit for their

studies and statements. Researchers are obliged to paraphrase the

articles and documents that they have gathered data from and not

copy the document itself to prove comprehension about the topic

and to avoid plagiarism.

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D. TARGET SAMPLE

In selecting the participants, the researchers used a

purposive snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is mostly used to

give respondents certain criteria to meet before they can participate

(Venette, 2013). The interviewees range from 18-30 years old, this

is because of the preliminary results of the Annual Labor and

Employment (2017) which reported that the annual labor force

participation rate of 61.2 percent out of 69.9 million population is 15

years old and over. The interviewees work at a job that is for the

opposite gender. To exclude newly employed workers and people

who have just gotten into the industry, the respondents’ work

experience in their career ranged from 2-5 years. Blue-collar jobs

like construction, warehousing, and sanitation are more common

since more people chose blue-collar jobs as of 2016. As studied by

Landrum (2016), more people chose blue-collar jobs because the

cost of an average college education has been rising for decades,

leading to many picking jobs that do not need any college

education. In other words, more and more members of newer

generations are taking advantage of on-site training and even

apprenticeships, rather than betting a college education will result

in a career that will impress and appease their parents.

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E. RESEARCH LOCALE

Since the researchers and the interviewees both live

around Nueva Ecija, they chose to conduct the interviews around

the Nueva Ecija area for convenience and safety. Nueva Ecija is

also a good place to look for people to interview since it has a high

population. According to PSA (2015), Nueva Ecija has a projected

population of 2,151,461. A larger population means a higher

probability of finding Unorthodox Workers.

F. DATA COLLECTION

The interviews were one-on-one, semi-structured

interviews, as mentioned by Doyle (2017), a common practice in

semi-structured interviews is to start with open-ended questions

and then devise follow-up questions to draw out more specific

evidence from the participants. Each researcher was given some

background information about unorthodox workers and the

interviewees; their occupation, some basic information, and many

others. After the briefing, the interviews took place; the research

instruments are used to maximize the data that can be gained since

the interviewers cannot keep all the information that they receive

from the interviewee without the help of research instruments. The

interviewers were able to gather information about their job, why

they chose their career, and other common questions to ease in the
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more serious topics. After these questions, the conversation leads

to their daily lives, this is the essence of the topic. After the

interviews are finished, the data gathered will be collected and

compiled to be added to the research paper.

G. DATA ANALYSIS

Since this study takes a Qualitative Phenomenological

Approach, the data gathered are analyzed qualitatively. The data

gathered from the participants are analyzed and grouped according

to themes in the simulacrum. The data gathered are then presented

in a discussion after all of the information from the participants have

been grouped to provide a conclusion.

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