Mulheres profissionais de educação física: dupla jornada, carreira e maternidade

Abstract

The professional field of activity in the area of physical education is diverse due to the process of specialization and professionalization of activities that involve different bodily practices. Women are increasingly entering the job market and becoming responsible for the family income, facing adversities with the accumulation of work, maternal and marital roles. Data from the International Labor Organization indicate that women's participation in the labor market is just over two-thirds of men's participation and unemployment rates are higher for them. Within this perspective, the general objective of this study was to identify some psycho-sociocultural factors that affect the career of physical education professionals associated with double shifts and motherhood. Qualitative research was carried out with semi-structured interviews. The study sample consisted of 42 female physical education professionals. They were initially selected for convenience and, therefore, using the snowball criterion. The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto, of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, under opinion number: 5,524,349 in July 2022. The initial hypothesis of the study was that education professionals physicists initially invest in the field of fitness, due to the wide range of work and flexible hours, more favorable to maternal and marital care. This could also be considered a field that allows greater chances of autonomous career development, such as personal assistance. Trainer and even providing services through digital platforms. However, they also present greater vulnerability and precariousness, without financial security or stability. The results indicated that women have a strategy of reducing working hours to remain in the job market after motherhood. The field of fitness appears as a preference for physical education professionals to work at the beginning of their careers, as gyms offer greater work opportunities and flexible working hours. This helps women to have different employment relationships and increase their income. As domestic and maternal tasks increase, they tend to migrate to other professional activities other than fitness, although this result may be directly related to family income, especially the husband's, and the aging of the Physical Education professional herself. Despite the adversities they face, the social role of mother and the desire for motherhood brings a feeling of self-fulfillment, being, for the most part, more relevant than a supposed successful professional career