COMENIUS PROJECT WORK AND JOBS

Traditionally, there have been jobs done mainly by men, and others by women BRICKLAYER

POLICEMANNURSERY TEACHER

WOMEN used to do unskilled jobs as labour hands or cleaning, and also those related with teaching, nursing and dress-making Teacher Labour hands Nurses Dress makers

MEN used to do the most skilled jobs. Also they did works where strength was important.

Fortunately, things are changing...

Nowadays, there are still differences between men and women in their professions. Opportunities, salaries and conditions are different.

Women have the opportunities to access to important and specialised jobs. They become judges, doctors, soldiers and policewomen.

Women sometimes do traditionally male jobs. It is more and more common to see them working as a taxi or bus driver, electrician or even bricklayer. ElectricianBus driverBricklayers

Women hardly ever become business women or managers in private or public enterprises.

Half of the Ministers in the current Spanish Government are women. There are nine female members and nine male ones. Even more, the Minister for the Army is a woman.

On the other hand, more and more men have jobs that were typically female works some years ago, such as teachers, nurses and cooks.

But it is very unusual to see men working in the worst-paid jobs such as cleaning, housekeeping, dressmaking. NO PHOTO NO PHOTO

JUDICIARY SYSTEM WORKERS Women are more common as City Clerks and now also as judges. But in general there are more women in the Judiciary System than men. Figures from the Spanish Home Office and The Public Prosecutor's Office

MEDICAL WORKERS There are more male vets than female. There are nearly as many women doctors and dentists as men. But there are much more women nurses, midwives and pharmacists. WOMEN MEN * Figures from the INE Spanish National Employment Institute

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT In general, there are more men who work for the Administration than women. They have especially jobs where high-level education is needed and those where only basic education is requested. Only women with professional studies exceed men with the same training. *Figures from the Civil Service

MANAGERS There are some women who work as manager, but no more than the 29% of women become managers in companies with more than 10 employees. * Figures from the INE Spanish National Employment Institute

In short, there are few differences concerning the best jobs. More men become nurses and teachers and more women are judges, doctors, soldiers or policewomen. On the contrary, only few women become electricians or mechanics and no men are housekeepers or cleaners.

Even doing the same job, there are differences in the salaries men and women receive. Women usually earn less money than men especially in private enterprises. It does not happen in the public ones.

Sometimes men and women have different conditions at work. There are more and more women in the Spanish Army, but women usually work at the office and men do those works where strength is needed.

WOMEN IN THE SPANISH ARMY

WOMEN AND MEN IN THE SPANISH ARMY IN 2008 MENWOMEN

MENWOMEN% MEN% WOMEN ARMY NAVY AIR FORCE TOTAL MEN AND WOMEN IN THE ARMY

ARMYNAVYAIR FORCE OTHERS MENWOMEN

OFFICERSCAPTAINS % NONCOMMISSIONNED OFFICERS BRIGADES SERGEANTS % ORDINARY SOLDIERSCORPORALS % % WOMEN RANK IN THE SPANISH ARMY

A female soldier, Nadia Muñoz, and a male soldier, Jose Alcántara, have been interviewed about their jobs. Both work in the Spanish Army. She is an officer and resposible of a soldier company. They work with missiles. He is a soldier and has just returned from a Humanitarian Mission in Kosovo and Libano. They answer our questions.

How do you feel in your job? Nadia: I feel fine. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t work here. José: I feel fine because I like it very much.

Do you like your job? Nadia: Yes, I like it very much, but I enjoyed it more before. Some years ago, you needed to have some special training to enter in the Army But now it is not necessary, you don’t even have to pass any entrance examination. José: I like it very much, this is the reason why I chose it.

What qualities do you think a person needs to do your job? Nadia: The most important qualitites are the respect, self control, responsability, fellowship but especially your personal interest. José: For me it is necessary to have fellowship and to be responsable.

How do you feel about a member of the opposite sex doing your job? Nadia: Men and women can do the job, but there are still some people who think that women shouldn’t do any physical effort. If we have to unload a lorry, men and women do it. José: I think both can do the same job although sometimes women don’t do hard works because of their physical characteristics.

Are there any advantage or disadvantage of being a man or a woman in your job? Which ones? Nadia: There are still some of them. Conditions are more and more similar today, although sometimes a woman with the same training as a man usually work at the office, which is a more comfortable work. José: The conditions at work and possibilities are the same. There are different marks for men and women in physical exercises but they also have different physical conditions.

In conclusion, we may say that although there are fewer differences between men and women in their jobs, there are still some, especially in private companies.

Everybody must work together to end with this.

Although things have changed very much during the last 40 years in Spain, there is still much work to do in this sense.