Helping or Hindering? Women Truck Drivers’ Experiences of Unsolicited Help at Work

This paper examines women truck drivers’ experiences of unsolicited help from men in the male-dominated Swedish trucking industry. Although helping is generally understood as a positive and prosocial act, unsolicited help, defined as offers or actions that are neither requested nor needed, carries complex social meanings in this highly gendered work context. Based on 20 qualitative interviews with women truck drivers, the study explores how unsolicited help is enacted, interpreted, navigated, and ultimately how it affects gendered relations in the occupation. Unsolicited help is understood here as men’s doing of gender inequality, accomplished through ambiguous sexism. The findings show that unsolicited help targets the core occupational trait of independence, positioning women as dependent. The study also indicates that these practices can contribute to subtle forms of occupational closure by undermining women’s sense of belonging in the occupation. The study highlights how seemingly prosocial behaviours can reinforce gendered power relations and underscores the continuous need to address informal interactions when promoting gender equality and women’s retention in male-dominated work settings.