Gender, work and health

Gender and sex play an important role in determining work experiences, as well as health experiences in the wake of a work-related injury or disease. (“Gender” typically refers to socially constructed roles, relationships, behaviours, relative power and other traits that societies ascribe to women, men and people of diverse gender identities. “Sex” is typically understood to refer to the biological and physiological characteristics that distinguish females from males.) IWH research seeks to understand these experiences—in particular the effects and outcomes of occupational exposures related to these experiences—in order to develop gender- and sex-sensitive policies and practices to improve the health of all working Canadians.

Featured

A man and a woman work together to push a trolley through a warehouse
At Work article

Review synthesizes differences between men, women in injury risks and outcomes

Men and women may be part of the labour force in similar proportions, but many industries and occupations are still dominated by one sex/gender or another. A new systematic review at IWH looks at differences between men and women in work exposures and injury/illness outcomes.
Published: May 20, 2022
Journal article
Journal article

Job quality and precarious employment among lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers: a national study

Published: SSM - Population Health, December 2023
Journal article
Journal article
A man and a woman work together to push a trolley through a warehouse
At Work article

Review synthesizes differences between men, women in injury risks and outcomes

Men and women may be part of the labour force in similar proportions, but many industries and occupations are still dominated by one sex/gender or another. A new systematic review at IWH looks at differences between men and women in work exposures and injury/illness outcomes.
Published: May 2022
Journal article
Journal article

Differences between men and women in their risk of work injury and disability: a systematic review

Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, May 2022
Project
Project

Developing approaches to measuring the dimensions of gender and their relationship to health outcomes

An IWH-led project aims to develop a multidimensional measure of gender, with a focus on the working-age population.
Status: Ongoing