To Larissa Bamberry and Donna Bridges, asking why more women don’t move into male–dominated fields is much more complicated that it seems. On this episode of What’s Sociology Got To Do With It?, Larissa and Donna argue that rural Australian women face attacks from two sides: judged for leaving their communities yet often facing limited opportunities and strict gender roles if they remain.

Larissa argues that there is a social and cultural element that shapes what fields we go into and how others respond to our career decisions. In other words, if you’ve ever judged a man for becoming a nurse, then you’re responding to the ideas of who a nurse is. For Larissa, these ideas around what work is appropriate can shape the opportunities an individual feels they can go for and still be accepted by their community.

Building on this, Donna argues that even if one tries for a feminist interpretation of sociology, they’re often hamstrung by an upholding of the wisdom of old white men. And while there is no doubt these men have done a lot for sociology as an academic discipline, she argues that this focus often leaves out … well, everyone else.

Together, they call on Australians to think about how their expectations of each other (and yes, their gender) see us judging and critiquing each other. From this, they believe that Australian workplaces can move to accommodate a far wider variety of norms and sociology can move beyond positioning male whiteness as universal.

As mentioned in the episode, Larissa and Donna wrote a piece called Risky Business: how our ‘macho’ construction culture is killing tradies. If you want to contact Larissa, she is on Twitter @elby326, while Donna is @DonnaVBridges.