A Gender Perspective on Sick Leave Among Young Adults – Barriers and Resources for Return to Work as Experienced by Young Employees and Managers: A Protocol for a Qualitative Study

Introduction: About 20% of the working-age population in the average OECD country is suffering from a mental disorder. The prevalence rates are especially high among young adults and women. Young adults need to deal with challenges connected to growing up and entering the labour market, their young age often leaving them with little experience and a low level of preparedness for failure. Moreover, young women and men are confronted with gender norms and expectations that have been found to affect both sick leave and return to work. While managers have been shown to have a significant impact on the well-being of employees, few studies investigate the experiences of both employees and managers in relation to sick leave and return to work among youth. The aim of this study is to investigate perceived causes of sick leave owing to common mental disorders as well as barriers to and resources for return to work for young employees, from the perspectives of both employees and managers. Furthermore, differences and similarities in the patterns of experiences of women and men will be analyzed. Methods and analysis: This study has a qualitative research design. Data will consist of individual interviews with employees aged 19–29 and managers in female- and male-dominated occupations in a Swedish setting. The participants will be recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. The interviews will be analysed in two steps: firstly, a conventional content analysis will be conducted. Secondly, a gender analysis focusing social relations and gender order will be applied to interpret the data by examining differences and similarities in the patterns of experiences of women and men.