Lapeyre, Nathalie

Virility as a legacy: the permanence of male professional ethos and the exclusion of women in the French aeronautics industry - 2022.


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Through the prism of the sociological and organisational construction of forms of virility and masculinities at Airbus, this article explores the gendered cultural context in which women evolve at work, even as a minority group. A survey was conducted on the careers of women managers and engineers in a context of implementation of a gender equality policy in the aeronautics industry. The analysis focuses on how the dominant corporate culture can be exclusionary for female employees. This culture is strongly rooted in regional and popular culture. It strongly emphasizes forms of virility rooted in the world of rugby, its gendered codes, its wish to keep to themselves and its collective practices between men. This gendered culture thus affects the work organisation more globally and is reflected in professional ethos, sociability, relationships with the body and sexuality, in daily interactions in the office as well as in the factory. This remains true even in places, functions and professions where the internationalisation of professional and social profiles is more significant.