Men in Traditionally Women-Oriented Professions

Changes in the late 1800's resulted in universities admitting women, thus allowing them to explore many more educational opportunities. These factors together provided the impetus for establishment of hospitals and schools to formally train nurses, with many schools opening for the first time in the 1870s. At the same time, though the need for nurses had been established and the importance of their role within the realm of medical care recognized, there was a great deal of opposition to the proposal that nurses should be formally educated. This attitude was epitomized by a well-known article of the time published in 1908, 'The over-trained nurse' in which the author asserted that nursing was not a “profession” but merely an “honorable calling”. Consistent with this notion, public perception viewed nursing as a job that women were generally suited to perform rather than one which required special skill and was even equated with a religious “calling”. This view, influenced by early nursing's relationship with religious orders remained far into the 20th century.(Lasseter, 1999).

This issue has becoming much better over the years, but it is still investigated in many professions that mainly males are encouraged to join even in today’s society.

The nursing field was mostly dominated by males before world war one, but census data from 2011 states that “Women outnumber them 10:1.” in the nursing field (Diamond). What used to be the norm of men being nurses and doctors have now switched. Josh Mitchell from the wall street journal reported that "Women account for a third of the nation's lawyers and doctors, a major shift from a generation ago”

Thus explaining that regardless of one’s skill set they base the choice of career or lack of career on their cultural beliefs and when a male or female steps outside of the boundary that society has placed they are chastised for their decision. For example, in 2013 94% of nurses were females and only 6% were males, Wilson (2013) indicated the primary reason for this being that society views nursing as a care taking role with the best nurses having a maternal instinct (p. 1). Therefore, placing a more family orientated role on the nursing field. Although, Wilson (2013) also established that regardless of nursing being a more female orientated career, males still made approximately $1,100 more than their female counterparts. Leading to the realization that society even in a female oriented career field still places more value on men than women when it comes to a career driven

There are numerous societal reasons for these trends in many professions; no one particular issue accounts for the slippage, but a combination of salaries, fewer males being encouraged to enter the educational system, hesitation and threats of suspicion, and societal pressures all combine to

With this empowerment it has become more common to see women in job’s that others thought to being only a “mans” job, such as doctor’s or lawyers, but in doing this jobs such as nursing get seen for less. “As women began to pursue traditionally male professions like medicine, nursing was seen as a job for less able females that time had left behind.” (Summer’s, 2010, p 1). Summer’s point here is that now since females are able and going into professions that are portrayed as more respectable, the females who are in jobs such as nursing are seen as if they have accomplished less than

We hear a lot about women entering the workforce lately, but where are they all going? 90% of registered nurses are female, and 82% of Elementary and Middle school teachers are too. Even jobs such as psychologists, social workers and tax collectors are all dominated by women, but what makes these fields so desirable to women is not very surprising.

In the book…. shows sexism in the role of the gender in the topic of occupations. First, the text shows an interview where a woman and a man are asked about where they work; the man is a reporter and the woman is a housewife. Instead of giving the woman a profession, the book gives her a role that is the classic job for a woman. Although, in the rest of the page are more occupations with women included, the assignments that the book present are the stereotype roles, for example doctor, waitress, and

While the nursing field continues to flourish in today’s job market,it is also experiencing a massive shortage. Despite this alarming fact, according to Buerhaus (2008): “ Of the estimated 2.24 million RNs in the nursing workforce in 2006, 200,000 were men (8%)” (p. 2424). In order to alleviate the nursing shortage, nursing schools must allure men into the field by eliminating the feminization of the profession and appealing to a diverse demographic who choose to pursue a career in a female dominated field. Moreover, by eliminating the comparison of male and female students, omitting gender differences between associate and baccalaureate degree levels, and comparing nursing programs from various regions will bring about the necessary and crucial change the nursing field is in dire need for. However, by eliminating the comparison of male and female students; nursing schools are unable to distinguish the elite from the amateur slackers. Omitting gender differences between degree levels, will considerably affect the quality of care and patient safety and above all comparing nursing schools will only result in misleading information that gives students the run around .

Christine Williams broadens themes developed in ‘Gender Differences At Work: Women and Men in Non-Traditional Occupations’ (Berkeley: University of California, 1989), a comparison between the effects on male nurses and female marines of working in ‘gendered occupations’, to be traditionally allied by reason of similarities in their historical development and in their gender composition . Her interviews provide fascinating evidence of how both men and women are subtly socialized into professional gender ideology. Gender roles are based on society's values and beliefs about interactions between individuals. The appropriate behavior is then expected from the specific gender. The reason behind this is, our knowledge system, in which we grew up

There are a number of professions that traditionally have been oriented towards women: teaching, especially younger children; certain carative professions; and, of course, nursing. Of the 2.1 million Registered Nurses in the United States, for instance, less than six per cent are male, and men make up only 13 percent of the new crop of nursing students (Chung, 2001).This trend is not just centered in the United States. In much of the developed world, males account for only 1% or less of teachers of early childhood grade levels, down from about 4% in the 1980s. At least one educator noted that this is a clear tragedy for millions of children who can benefit from simply having a male perspective in the classroom. "As a result many children who have no man at home, find no man at preschool and no man at primary school, and never meet a stable, reliable male figure in all their preteen years. Girls never experience nurturing from a trusted older male. Boys, cared for only by women, learn that nurturing is no part of the male job description. And in the absence of reliable men, too many of these boys learn their male role from violent television and music videos, and on the street" (Ballantyne, 2008).

Men had difficulties accepting and adjusting to changes in women’s roles. They had to adjust to having women around them at their job sites and some felt that women were filling positions that an unemployed man should have been given. Men also felt that the traditional male role as provider was being threatened, so some men did not allow their wives to enter the labor force. Most men, however, have gradually accepted women in the career world. Today, men are even taking on roles that were once deemed ‘female’ like nursing, homemaking and teaching.

Women today have progressed to unprecedented levels, however, in all the ways women have advanced, “There has been remarkably little change in the gender balance of some of the most common occupations for either women or men during the last forty years “(p. 5). There was a large decline in the 80’s in workplace segregation, but since then, gender integration in the workplace has been relatively stagnant. This is largely related to the gender stigmas attached to fields such as teachers or health care workers that are largely dominated by women. There is an undeniable wage penalty for working in predominately female occupations that also deters men from these fields. The Department of Labor suggests many possible policies to be made in order to tackle this issue if the goal of equal opportunity for women wishes to be

With every third student at the Pedagogue-seminars being male, but so few choosing the field of child-care (Stobbe 2013), we wanted to research in which way this influences masculinity and gender-roles in institutions.

Rationale for research question: As a male primary school teacher, I find myself overwhelmingly outnumbered by female colleagues. By exploring two different social theories I aim to discover and add to the knowledge base as to possible reasons, theories and research literature as to why male teachers are so outnumbered in primary classrooms worldwide.