Abstract
Since the Industrial Revolution women have occupied positions in the job market that involve shiftwork and a wide availability for time shifts. Men, however, have not increased their participation in reproductive work. These findings evidence the difficulty of harmonizing work, family and home life. The text analyzes the relationships between the family life and professional life of women workers in the offshore at Campos Basin - RJ. To this end, 15 women who work in technical eminently masculine functions were interviewed. The results revealed the postponement of reflections on motherhood or planning to become pregnant after getting a job on land, difficulties in harmonizing family life and offshore work, and that these workers consider that work situation as a temporary way of life. The choices made by women workers at different personal and professional stages of life are oriented by values that are not static and that have been in constant debate and confrontation with the reality. Although most of the respondents were young, single and childless, there are some married women with children who "organize their lives according to boarding" and need a good infrastructure on land to continue in those functions.
Keywords:
Work and gender; Women’s offshore employment; Work organization; Work relationships