Abstract

MUNIZ TERRA, Leticia. Approaches to gender inequality in Argentina: a study of the work-family balance in the oil sector. Rev. colomb. soc. [online]. 2019, vol.42, n.1, pp.251-270. ISSN 0120-159X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rcs.v42n1.68755.

The article seeks to understand the peculiarities involved in the issue of achieving work-family balance in Latin America. To that effect, it uses the theoretical perspective of work-family balance to analyze the case of Argentina's leading oil company, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), and its workers. It discusses the possibilities promoted by the firm with respect to that balance, as well as the difficulties that arise and the ways in which both male and female workers confront and organize their family and work responsibilities.

The research was carried out with a qualitative methodology involving thirty-two in-depth interviews with male and female workers of La Plata refinery, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The criteria for selection of this particular study case were, first, the fact that like in all oil companies in the world, YPF'S personnel has always been predominantly male, which makes it possible to observe the peculiarities of the female work-family balance in this context. Secondly, because the oil exploitation and production carried out by the company became essential for national development in Argentina was is the case in other Latin American countries.

Research findings show that in the absence of corporate policies regarding balance, males and females adopt different strategies to achieve harmony between work and family life. Thus, while female oil workers are torn between the organization of their family life (usually with the help of a household worker) and their occupational tasks, men in the industry are basically dedicated to their work in the company and delegate their household responsibilities to their spouses. Our main conclusion is that the absence of policies regarding balance and the articulation-tension involved in trying to achieve balance between family and work tend to perpetuate the existing gender inequalities.

Keywords : balance; family; qualitative methods; social inequalities; work; YPF.

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