Women in Creative Jobs and Living in Rural Areas — A Contradiction?

Abstract

In academic and political discourses, gender preferences for certain occupations are often considered with regard to the challenges of demographic change. With the predicted shortage of skilled labour in Germany politics, the media and business are promoting campaigns to increase the share of women in technical fields, the, so-called, MINT1 occupations, traditionally the domain of male employees (Quaiser-Pohl 2012). In the context of this chapter, however, the investigation of women and their relationship to specific occupational groups focuses on an occupational area where a high share of women is a characteristic feature, the creative sector. Since Florida (2004) found a positive relationship between economic growth and the accumulation of a creative workforce in US cities, the creative sector has received particular attention in discussions on regional development in post-modern societies on an international level. According to his findings, creative clusters strengthen economic growth by stimulating a dynamic, open and innovative urban environment and are pull factors for business, capital and innovation. Even though Florida’s analysis focused on urban development, the relationship between economic growth and the development of creative sectors in rural areas caught the interest of researchers (e.g. Mossig 2011, Ermann 2011).