This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: From male voicemaxxing to politicians being graded on their jawlines, men and boys face a dizzying array of cultural messages about how to be a man today. Affordability pressures and employment uncertainty are challenging old-school assumptions that men should be primary providers.
But in the midst of cultural shifts and economic instability, some men have gravitated toward a nostalgic version of masculinity. Jobs in coal, oil and gas powerfully symbolize the ideal of a tough, rugged "frontier masculinity" that involves conquering the natural world. Because this version of manhood rejects environmentalism as weak and unmanly, social scientists have wondered whether masculinity is a barrier to protecting biodiversity, reducing our meat consumption and transitioning away from polluting fossil fuels.
Researchers remind us, however, that our ideas about gender can adapt to new challenges facing our species—like the existential threat of climate change. Definitions of "green" or "sustainable" jobs tend to be aspirational. There's an assumption that this type of work is reserved for those with strong personal environmental values, like conservationists or ecologists.
Some also assume that workers in male-dominated industries like the oil and gas sector don't care about the environment. If you work in resource extraction and drive a Ford F-150, environmentalists will probably believe you won't be interested in signing their petition against coal mining. But if governments and environmental movements are serious about shifting away from highly polluting industries and creating green jobs, they must find ways to appeal to workers who don't identify as passionate environmentalists.
It's also important to consider the experiences of those working in existing green jobs. Tradespeople, a unique group within a traditionally male-dominated sector, deserve to be centered in these conversations. That's why we focused our most recent research on working conditions and overall job satisfaction among 50 tradespeople in the heat pump and solar panel sector across British Columbia.
Most of them were men to best reflect the gender makeup of the industry. These workers play an instrumental role in the energy transition and in improving people's material quality of life through thermal comfort. For our project, we were guided by a simple question: Are green jobs good jobs?
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