Special Issue - Female work: Working Conditions, Health and Social Recognition

2026-09-23

Special issue editors: Karin Halldén, Associate professor (docent) at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University, and a professor in work life studies at Mälardalen University (guest editor), Charlotta Magnusson, Professor at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University (guest editor), and Liza Reizel, Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo (NJWLS editor).

This special issue has a deadline for extended abstracts (1000 words): November 31 2026. Deadline for full papers: September 15 2027. The special issue is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2028. Abstracts and manuscripts should be submitted in the OJS system Submissions | Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. Please contact the guest editors, Karin Halldén karin.hallden@sofi.su.se, and Charlotta Magnusson charlotta.magnusson@sofi.su.se, or the NJWLS editor, Liza Reisel, if you have any questions regarding the special issue.  

The Nordic labor markets remain marked by gender segregation (Grönlund et al., 2017), with women’s and men’s work often valued differently. Female-dominated occupations tend to have lower status and compensation than more gender-balanced occupations (Andersson et al., 2026; Magnusson, 2013; Salminen-Karlsson & Fogelberg Eriksson, 2025; Sand, 2025), even when accounting for required skills and experience. Gendered patterns in working life are also evident in the distribution of unpaid and paid work: women take a larger share of parental leave (Duvander et.al., 2022; Duvander et al., 2020; Lammi-Taskula, 2025; Rostgaard & Ejrnæs, 2021) and are more likely to work part-time (van Breeschoten & Evertsson, 2019; Sundström & Lanninger Wennemo, 2014).

Women also experience higher rates of sick leave (Mastekaasa et al., 2021; Thorsen, 2015), and work environment conditions are a central dimension of gender inequalities in working life. Despite substantial improvements over recent decades, physical working conditions continue to contribute to work-related ill health and sickness absence (d’Errico et al., 2022; Thorsen et al., 2021). At the same time, psychosocial working conditions, including prolonged stress, low job control, role conflict, and insufficient managerial support, are arguably important determinants of mental ill health and long-term sickness absence across the Nordic countries (Aagestad et al., 2014; Andersen et al., 2022; Braeuner et al., 2021). Such conditions are often particularly prevalent in female-dominated occupations, especially in health care, social care, and education (Aronsson et al., 2019; Nyberg et al., 2021).

This special issue is dedicated to research on gender inequalities within the labor market, with a particular focus on female work (such as female-dominated occupations, workplaces, industries, and sectors). We welcome both comparative studies that examine inequalities across parts of the labor market with different gender compositions and studies that investigate female-dominated work only.

A distinctive feature of this special issue is its multi-level and interdisciplinary perspective. Contributions are encouraged to distinguish between structural conditions in working life (such as sectors, occupations, organizational contexts, and labor market arrangements) and individual employee characteristics. Drawing on theoretical and methodological approaches from, for example, sociology, psychology, economics, business administration, and work-life studies, this issue aims at disentangling how factors interact to produce gendered patterns of inequality. Empirically, the special issue welcomes contributions using a broad spectrum of methodological approaches, ranging from observational and experimental research to qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods designs, as well as collaborative and practice-oriented forms of inquiry.

This special issue seeks theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Segregation, valuation of work and social recognition
  • Physical and psychosocial working conditions and work environment risks
  • Health, wellbeing and sickness absence
  • Work organization, working time, and autonomy
  • Career opportunities and wages
  • The interplay between work, family life and health
  • Organizational practices and policy interventions

We hope this special issue will provide new, interdisciplinary insights into the structural and organizational foundations of gender inequalities in working life, offering important implications for both policy and practice aimed at fostering a healthier and more sustainable working life.

References

Aagestad, C., Johannessen, H. A., Tynes, T., Gravseth, H. M. & Sterud, T. (2014).
Work-Related Psychosocial Risk Factors for Long-Term Sick Leave: A Prospective Study of the General Working Population in Norway. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(8), 787-793.

Andersen, L. L., Vinstrup, J., Thorsen, S. V., Pedersen, J., Sundstrup, E. & Rugulies, R. (2022).
Combined psychosocial work factors and risk of long-term sickness absence in the general working population: Prospective cohort with register follow-up among 69,371 workers. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 48(7), 549-559.

Andersson, A., Lindh, A. & Magnusson C. (2026). Kvinnors arbete – är det mödan värt? In K. Boye & J. Westerman (Eds.), Välfärd och livsvillkor: Perspektiv på samtida samhällsbilder. Liber.

Aronsson, V., Toivanen, S., Leineweber, C., & Nyberg, A. (2019). Can a poor psychosocial work environment and insufficient organizational resources explain the higher risk of ill-health and sickness absence in human service occupations? Evidence from a Swedish national cohort. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 47(3), 310-317.

Braeuner, E. V., Kamp, A., Nielsen, K., Andersen, L. L., Garde, A. H. & Pedersen, J. (2021). The Future of the Nordic Psychosocial Work Environment: Implications for Occupational Health. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, Working Environment Committee. TemaNord 2021:507.

van Breeschoten, L. & Evertsson, M. (2019). When does part-time work relate to less work-life conflict for parents? Moderating influences of workplace support and gender in the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Community. Work & Family, 22(5), 606–628.

d’Errico, A., Falkstedt, D., Almroth, M., Badarin, K., Hemmingsson, T. & Kjellberg, K. (2022).
Long-term sick leave for back pain, exposure to physical workload and psychosocial factors at work, and risk of disability and early-age retirement among aged Swedish workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 95(7), 1521-1535.

Duvander, A.-Z., Halldén, K., Koslowski, A. & Sjögren Lindquist, G. (2022). Income loss and leave taking: Do financial benefit top-ups influence fathers' parental leave use in Sweden? Journal of Social Policy, 1-21. 

Duvander, A.-Z., Lappegård, T. & Johansson, M. (2020). Impact of a Reform Towards Shared Parental Leave on Continued Fertility in Norway and Sweden. Population Research and Policy Review, 39(6), 1205-1228.

Grönlund, A., Halldén, K. & Magnusson, C. (2017). A Scandinavian success story? Women’s labour market outcomes in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Acta Sociologica, 60(2), 97-119.

Lammi-Taskula, J. (2025). Parental Leave in Finland. In Paid Parental Leave and Social Sustainability in the Nordic Countries. Nordic Council of Ministers.

Magnusson, C. (2013). More women lower pay? Occupational sex composition, wages and wages growth. Acta Sociologica, 56(3), 227-245.

Mastekaasa, A., Dale-Olsen, H., Hellevik, T., Løset, G. K. & Østbakken, K. M. (2021). Gender difference in sickness absence: Do managers evaluate men and women differently with regard to the appropriateness of sickness absence? Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 49(2), 125-131.

Nyberg, A., Härenstam, A., Johansson, G. & Peristera, P. (2021). Psychosocial Working Conditions for Women and Men in Industries with Different Types of Production and Gender Composition: Sweden, 1991-2017. In B.-I. Keisu, S. Tafvelin & H. Brodin (Eds.), Gendered Norms at Work. Aligning Perspectives on Health, Safety and Well-Being. Springer.

Rostgaard, T., & Ejrnæs, A. (2021). How Different Parental Leave Schemes Create Different Take-Up Patterns: Denmark in Nordic Comparison. Social Inclusion, 9(2), 313-324.

Salminen-Karlsson, M., & Fogelberg Eriksson, A. (2025). Towards Pay Equity: An Exploratory Study of National Wage Statistics in the Nordic Countries. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK). TemaNord 2025:545.

Sand, J. (2025). Towards Pay Equity: Explaining the Undervaluation of Women's Work in the Nordic Countries. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK). TemaNord 2025:546

Sundström, M. & Lanninger Wennemo, A. (2014). Part-Time Work in the Nordic Region: Part-Time Work, Gender and Economic Distribution in the Nordic Countries. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. TemaNord 2014:503.

Thorsen, S. V., Flyvholm, M.-A., Pedersen, J., Bültmann, U., Andersen, L. L. & Bjorner, J. B. (2021). Associations between physical and psychosocial work environment factors and sickness absence incidence depend on the lengths of the sickness absence episodes: A prospective study of 27,678 Danish employees. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 78(1), 46-53.

Thorsen, S. V., Friborg, C., Lundström, B., Kausto, J., Örnelius, K., Sundell, T. & Rafnsdóttir, G. J. (2015). Sickness Absence in the Nordic Countries. Nordic Social Statistical Committee (NOSOSCO). Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers.