Is agriculture an occupation or a sector? Gender inequalities in a European context

Abstract

AbstractThis article focuses on inequalities in agriculture in the European Union. We examine the mismatch between European legislation on employment and any rigorous interrogation of women's employment position in agriculture. Our central argument is that this occurs because agriculture is seen as a sector rather than an occupation. DG AGRI is responsible for European agricultural and rural development policies. DG EMPLOYMENT does not have oversight for the agricultural workforce in the same way as other occupations as the existence of DG AGRI means farming is less obviously understood as an occupation. There are no similar measures to address the under‐representation of women in agriculture in the same way as for science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations. We demonstrate that when agricultural policies are seen as relating to an occupation rather than a sector, it becomes clearer how agricultural policy discriminates against women.