Conforming to and Resisting Dominant Gender Norms: How Male and Female Nursing Students Do and Undo Gender

Abstract

Much existing research has shown that men are able to construct and enact masculine identities in female‐dominated occupational contexts. However, few studies have examined the experiences of both men and women in these occupations. Furthermore, few studies attend to how men and women in these occupations both conform to and resist gender norms. In this study, I draw on the undoing gender frameworks developed by Deutsch and Butler to address the limitations mentioned above. Most notably, this study attends to the ways in which male and female nursing students do gender by conforming to dominant gender norms, as well as undo gender by resisting these norms. The main contribution of this study is thus to show the multiple ways through which gender can be done and undone in the professional training of both male and female nurses. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of attending to both women and men in research on female‐dominated occupations and of examining both similarities and differences in the gender performances of men and women.

Diversity as Polyphony: Reconceptualizing Diversity Management from a Communication-Centered Perspective

“…This idea goes beyond our current approach as well as those of our precursors (e.g., Pless, 1998Pless, , 1999. In the same line of thinking, one can argue that the ways in which differences are manifested in organizational settings are also due to the agentic capacities of the diversity concept as it has been institutionalized, e.g., in the form of dominant gender norms (see also McDonald, 2013). It follows that diversity as a concept would need to be diversified as such-that is, to allow for various meanings-in order to facilitate polyphony.…”

Health and social care teachers’ descriptions of challenges in their teaching at upper secondary school

“…Using Bourdieu's (1984) habitus concept, what happens may be considered a change in the habitus, which includes a personal development not only focused on the future occupation, and yet, this development is expected to become an asset in working with people in need of care. There is also a connection to research that highlights that personal, feminine-coded traits are considered a central part of the vocational knowledge for health care givers (Lindgren, 1992;Wreder, 2005;Huppatz, 2012;McDonald, 2013;McIntosh, McQuaid & Munro, 2014;Rehn & Eliasson, 2015). However, in this citation there is also a significant difference when the informant talks about courage and strength, traits that are seldom a part of a feminine caring disposition.…”

Sick Leave—A Signal of Unequal Work Organizations? Gender perspectives on work environment and work organizations in the health care sector: a knowledge review

“…In his article, McDonald (2012) presents what he refers to as principles that men in predominately female professions use to reinforce their masculine identity, namely to: -distance themselves from their female colleagues, -embody masculine values, -attempt to reconstruct the professional role, and -renegotiate and redefine masculine concepts (McDonald 2012) One concrete example of the above-mentioned practices is how a man relates to his professional role as a nurse without losing his self-esteem and identity (Robertsson 2003).…”

“…McDonald (2012) highlights an interesting perspective, namely that there have been few studies conducted within predominately female professions and looking at how women and men construct the meaning of gender and perform practices that aim not to follow the prevailing gender order (McDonald 2012). A burning question connected to this is whether new constructions of masculinities and femininities really are ways of relating to the prevailing norm or are ways of escaping the gender order and deconstructing the meaning of gender (McDonald 2012)?…”

“…Detaching ourselves from the biological categorization of gender in analyses of femininities and masculinities creates the opportunity to gain an understanding outside of stereotypes and traditional perceptions (McDonald 2012).…”