Masculinities and Femininities in the Sky: The Gender Project(s) of Flight Attendants’ Careers

Abstract

This article resumes the interactionist bases of career studies to analyze the construction of gender project(s) regarding masculinities and femininities in the careers of flight attendants. We used a qualitative-oriented research methodology divided into five main stages: documentary and bibliographical research; 16 months of general immersion with field observation and journaling; specific immersion with field observation (participating in a flight attendants’ training course); collection of 23 professionals’ biographies; and construction and analysis of thematic narratives. The information was analyzed based on the perspective of collective narratives in three relational moments: training, joining an airline, and work routine. The discussions point to the necessity of constructing career projects as gender projects and the potential for personal metamorphosis by emphasizing and embodying masculinities and femininities, as well as trajectories negotiations in the field of possibilities - temporal, dynamic, and contextual dimensions. The research findings broaden the debate on gendered careers and bring an original methodological and theoretical contribution to collective careers.