Man hittar sin nisch. Om män i socionomyrket - karriär, minoritet och maskulinitet
Författare
Summary, in English
This dissertation is about men as a minority in a female profession, that of university-
trained social worker. The aim is to illuminate the relationship between
work and gender on the basis of career, minority, and masculinity in the profession
of social work. By means of questionnaires sent to all the men who trained
as social workers in Lund 1980–1985 (the 1980s generation) and 1993–2003 (the
1990s generation) I have charted their careers. Eighteen of the 1990s generation
who completed the questionnaire were interviewed to eliciting their own point of
view. The results of the questionnaire study show that the men who took degrees
in social work in both the educational generations to a large extent started their
career in the social services but did not often continue their career there or entered
this field after the first few years of their career. From the interviews it was
found that the parts of the social services to which the men are most negative are
those which involve the exercise of authority and the control of people. Those
who qualified in the 1980s pursued a career which largely corresponds to the prevailing
image of the male social worker’s career - many of these men had embarked
on a vertical management career or had left the profession. The 1990s
generation displayed a different career development. Whereas the traditional male
social worker career goes in a vertical direction and is a matter of formal power
and superiority, the modern career goes in a horizontal direction and is a matter
of creating an autonomous niche. The niche is not just an expression of a new career
pattern; through the niche it is also possible to preserve a traditional masculinity.
At the same time, the interviewed men present an alternative masculinity
through their choice of profession and their way of reasoning about it. The male
social workers can thereby be seen as representatives of a masculinity in a time of
change.
trained social worker. The aim is to illuminate the relationship between
work and gender on the basis of career, minority, and masculinity in the profession
of social work. By means of questionnaires sent to all the men who trained
as social workers in Lund 1980–1985 (the 1980s generation) and 1993–2003 (the
1990s generation) I have charted their careers. Eighteen of the 1990s generation
who completed the questionnaire were interviewed to eliciting their own point of
view. The results of the questionnaire study show that the men who took degrees
in social work in both the educational generations to a large extent started their
career in the social services but did not often continue their career there or entered
this field after the first few years of their career. From the interviews it was
found that the parts of the social services to which the men are most negative are
those which involve the exercise of authority and the control of people. Those
who qualified in the 1980s pursued a career which largely corresponds to the prevailing
image of the male social worker’s career - many of these men had embarked
on a vertical management career or had left the profession. The 1990s
generation displayed a different career development. Whereas the traditional male
social worker career goes in a vertical direction and is a matter of formal power
and superiority, the modern career goes in a horizontal direction and is a matter
of creating an autonomous niche. The niche is not just an expression of a new career
pattern; through the niche it is also possible to preserve a traditional masculinity.
At the same time, the interviewed men present an alternative masculinity
through their choice of profession and their way of reasoning about it. The male
social workers can thereby be seen as representatives of a masculinity in a time of
change.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2006
Språk
Svenska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Rapportserie i socialt arbete
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Rapport
Förlag
Växjö universitet
Ämne
- Social Work
Status
Published
Report number
6
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1652-8573