Trabalho feminino e saúde mental: a perspectiva de servidoras públicas de uma universidade federal no contexto de pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

Work is a central category that organizes society and human subjectivity. However, the socio-sexual division of labor means that women and men are introduced in different ways into the world of work and occupy hierarchically different places, where they are at a disadvantage compared to men. In addition to the devaluation faced in the productive workspace, they are also the main responsible for reproductive work linked to home and family. These activities are made invisible, unpaid and delegitimized as work. Over the years, work overload and little recognition experienced by workers have an impact on the female prevalence in the development of mental and behavioral disorders, which are one of the main causes of absenteeism among female workers. In the Brazilian Public Administration, which reproduces the neoliberal management model, temporary and permanent disabilities due to mental illness also predominantly affect female government workers. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the work scenario of these female workers takes on more complex contours, with significant changes in the organization of productive and reproductive work. Thus, this research aims to analyze the repercussions of productive and reproductive work on the mental health of statutory female government workers of a federal institution of higher education located in the State of Amazonas in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. For that, a descriptive cross-sectional investigation was carried out, with a mixed approach, divided into two stages. The first phase consisted of secondary data provided by the university and an online questionnaire made available to the institution's workers. In the second stage, focus groups were carried out with a sample of participants from the first phase of the study. For data analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programs were used for quantitative data from the questionnaire, and Iramuteq for qualitative information. The results showed that female workers noticed the intensification of productive and reproductive work, overlapping university and home demands, repercussions on cooperation between university co-workers and on the support provided by cohabitants, charging superiors for maintaining productivity, increased of the demands on themselves in carrying out the work. With regard to suffering at work, the female workers pointed out the difficulties in reconciling productive and reproductive work, the excessive use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), increased financial costs for carrying out remote work, intensification of domestic work and of tutoring daughters in remote teaching. Pleasure at work, on the other hand, was related to the achievement of results from their activities at the university, the development of new knowledge and the carrying out of reproductive activities that promote social and family recognition. There was a strengthening of the use of individual strategies to deal with suffering at work experienced in this period. There was a worsening of illness and mental suffering and of musculoskeletal, circulatory and reproductive system diseases. It was concluded that the female government workers experienced a deepening of inequalities and overload related to work both in the public and private spheres. This scenario had repercussions on the worsening of the general health conditions of these women.