Gender Work and Organization· 2026Q1
Workplace Health and Safety in Teal‐Collar Jobs: How Blue‐Collar Men Working With Green Technology Embrace a Shifting Culture of Masculinity
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Men in blue-collar jobs working with green technology ('teal-collar' jobs) are embracing a new workplace culture that prioritizes health, safety, and family, challenging the notion that traditional masculinity hinders the energy transition.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Introduces 'teal-collar jobs' for blue-collar work in green technology.
- Teal-collar workers are embracing a workplace culture valuing health, safety, and family.
- This challenges the assumption that traditional masculinity obstructs the energy transition.
- Environmentalism is not a primary driver of masculinity for these workers.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
ABSTRACT Masculinity is often portrayed as a barrier to shifting away from fossil fuels because jobs in extractive industries represent a nostalgic masculine breadwinner identity. Accordingly, proposals for a just energy transition have provoked backlash aimed at protecting against perceived threats to manhood. Yet even though many men in blue‐collar jobs work with green technologies, their roles and perspectives are often overlooked in gender and environmental scholarship. Likewise, little is known about the occupational health and safety risks they face in these roles. We introduce the term teal‐collar job to describe the combination of blue‐collar and green‐collar work. We find that teal‐collar workers are embracing a shifting workplace culture characterized by respect for health and safety, camaraderie, and a desire to be emotionally present for family. However, enthusiastic environmentalism is not a prominent feature within participants' expressions of masculinity. Thus, our study challenges assumptions that working in blue‐collar trades broadly reproduces hegemonic, domineering forms of masculinity.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Gender Work and Organization, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Gender Studies
Gender StudiesSocial Sciences