Is Social Work a 'Non-Traditional' Occupation for Men?

Christie, Alastair

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjsw.a011363

Cited by 32 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The research reported here is an attempt to expand upon previous studies (see Allen, 1993;Applegate and Kaye, 1993;Murray, 1996;Penn and McQuail, 1997;Pringle, 1998;Christie, 1998) by exploring the possibilities for and implications of men's gender identity in the context of their work in non-traditional jobs.…”

Section: The Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Girls’ Jobs for the Boys? Men, Masculinity and Non‐Traditional Occupations

Cross

Bagilhole

2002

Gender Work & Organization

198

211

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Occupational segregation by sex remains the most pervasive aspect of the labour market. In the past, most research on this topic has concentrated on explanations of women's segregation into low paid and low status occupations, or investigations of women who have crossed gender boundaries into men's jobs, and the potential impact on them and the occupations. In contrast, this article reports on a small scale, qualitative study of ten men who have crossed into what are generally defined as 'women's jobs'. In doing so, one of the impacts on them has been that they have experienced challenges to their masculine identity from various sources and in a variety of ways. The men's reactions to these challenges, and their strategies for developing and accommodating their masculinity in light of these challenges are illuminating. They either attempted to maintain a traditional masculinity by distancing themselves from female colleagues, and/or partially (re)constructed a different masculinity by identifying with their non-traditional occupations. This they did as often as they deemed necessary as a response to different forms of challenge to their gender identities from both men and women. Finally, the article argues that these responses work to maintain the men as the dominant gender, even in these traditionally defined 'women's jobs'.

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Section: The Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

Girls’ Jobs for the Boys? Men, Masculinity and Non‐Traditional Occupations

Cross

Bagilhole

2002

Gender Work & Organization

198

211

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“…From studies of men as social workers, Christie (1998Christie ( , 2006 writes that because social work is identified as a caring profession it is also often viewed and described as a non-traditional occupation for men. Mclean (2003) emphasizes in a study about men employed in statutory social care works that: "By showing men's other capabilities, such as sensitivity and caring, they risk being accused of being too 'feminine' "(p. 50).…”

Section: My Point Of Viewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

Wallroth

2016

Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences

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In caregiving literature, it is often the female gender that has been the focus of attention, and in particular women's unpaid labor. Studies also tend to make comparisons between men's and women's caregiving, using men's caregiving experiences to show not only that women face greater burdens, but also that men's needs can be disregarded. This means that while gender analyses are not uncommon in the caregiving literature, gender tends to be equated with womanhood. The research problem that this dissertation addresses is therefore the gender bias that characterizes caregiving scholarship at present and the fact that this bias is impeding us from moving the debates on care and caregiving forward. The aim of the dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to contribute to the rectification of the gender bias in question by focusing on men's caregiving and answering the following research questions: What motivates men to provide care for their elderly parents? How do adult sons experience caregiving? What do adult sons think that care and caregiving are, i.e. what are their perspectives on care? Secondly, this dissertation also aims to explore whether a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective can be used to enhance our understanding of caregiving. Thus, through a phenomenological analysis of interviews with 19 caregiving adult sons and sons-in-law, this dissertation discusses how motives, experiences and perspectives, which have so far been interpreted as unique to women, are also matters that men talk about and consider important in caregiving. The dissertation argues therefore that much could be gained if we were to rectify the gender bias that characterizes the literature on family caregiving and explore caregiving men in the genderaware and masculinity-informed way that is lacking in this literature at present. Inspired by the debate within studies of masculinity, the dissertation argues that within the debate on care there is a hegemony of care which has so far tended to exclude men's perspectives on caregiving because literature on family caregiving has regarded women as the ideal caregivers. This dissertation shows that a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective on care can increase our understanding of family caregiving and contribute to the rectification of the gender bias that care research suffers from. Against this backdrop, it is proposed that caregiving men should not solely be regarded as empirically interesting. This is because they are an unexploited and theoretically profuse source of information about caregiving.

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“…Social services are typical of organizations which are structured along traditional lines, with men over-represented in management, higher-status or specialist posts, and in areas which are associated with men's traditional skills, such as where there is a controlling function. Even though social work and social care are nontraditional areas of work for men, they occupy traditional masculine positions within it (Christie, 1998a;Williams, 1995). The theory of hegemonic masculinity suggests that men who represent the idealized form of masculinity will hold power over women and 'weaker' forms of masculinity (Connell, 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although work opportunities for men have declined, few men are attracted to social care work in spite of the number of vacancies, and the number of men qualifying as social workers has declined (Christie, 1998a). In the context of an agenda of equal opportunities, inclusiveness in employment practice and the focus on choice for service users, it is important to address the lack of men in social care work (Christie, 1998a;Mor-Barak, 2000). This examination of the men who work in social services will inform this issue.…”

Section: Why This Is An Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gender is often only examined with reference to the under-representation of women in management (Balloch et al, 1999;Davey et al, 2000). Reference specifically to men in social care and social services is rarely made except in terms of this being a nontraditional area of work for them (Christie, 1998a;Williams, 1993). As a result, the academic writing on men's involvement in social care lacks an empirical base.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Men as Minority

McLean

2003

Journal of Social Work

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Although social care employees are predominantly women, there have always been men involved in the work, particularly as managers or where there is a control element. The academic writing on men's involvement in social care lacks an empirical base and this article presents an examination of the characteristics, distribution and routes into social care of 585 men who took part in a UK study of 2031 statutory social services employees.• Findings: The respondents were a heterogeneous group of men, employed throughout social care, mostly but not exclusively in jobs associated with traditional male roles. Men constitute 14 percent of the UK social services workforce and predictably are disproportionately represented in management. However, the majority (three-fifths) are employed in basic grade field, residential and home care jobs. • Applications: This is an important issue for social care employers: men face particular sets of difficulties in social care employment. With the decline in traditional employment opportunities, men may increasingly diversify into less traditional areas of work, including health and social care.Keywords diversity employment men social care work 45 Journal of Social Work 3(1): 45-68

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Is Social Work a 'Non-Traditional' Occupation for Men?

Cited by 32 publications

References 18 publications

Girls’ Jobs for the Boys? Men, Masculinity and Non‐Traditional Occupations

Girls’ Jobs for the Boys? Men, Masculinity and Non‐Traditional Occupations

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

Men as Minority

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