The art of being a Hummingbird in women's triple-shift workday

Abstract

With their significant presence in the labor market, women have continued to expand their participation in many positions and functions; however, they continue to be primarily responsible for home activities and child care. The situation for women becomes more complex with the growing demand for qualification, requiring that these workers often take on three shifts of work: professional, family and educational tasks. The objective of this study was to analyze the mechanisms of domination which are reflected in the actions of women who 'reconcile' professional activities, care of the family, and the demands of continuing education, using the work of Pierre Bourdieu as a principal reference. It deals with qualitative research, using data collected from interviews in order to obtain oral thematic stories from five women. The statements were submitted to the content analysis technique, and the results show that the quest for qualification stems from a concern with employability, and that professional competition is tied not only to gender, but also to competition with younger professionals. Although women refer to the beginning of a revision of the sexual division of housework, hired household help is still vital in this process of delegation and conciliation. To devote themselves to study they have abandoned leisure, not as a sacrifice, but as an act of re-signification. Like the hummingbird, which combines work and plant fertilization, the women hope to reconcile their tasks quickly, but also with lightness and grace.