Background: The health care systems across are characterised by the gross shortage of nurses. A number of initiatives have been reported which seek to address this challenge. Literature shows that males remain an inadequately tapped source, They remain a minority in nursing compared to their female counterparts. Literature also shows that gender-based barriers for male nurses exist. The purpose of this study was to explore gender-related constructs that influence the recruitment and retention of men in nursing as experienced by male nurses in three selected hospitals in the eThekwini district. Research Methodology: A qualitative, explorative and descriptive design was used in this study to illuminate the views of male nurses regarding their recruitment and retention in nursing .. Purposive sampling was used to select male nurses from three hospitals for interviews and a total of 37 participants participated in this study. The participants were drawn from private and public hospitals. Data was collected through individual and focus group interviews and was analyzed qualitatively. Research Findings: Four major themes emerged from data. These included the journey to nursing, experiences of males in the nursing profession, retention of male nurses and strategies to recruit and retain males in nursing. Findings from the groups and categories of males in nursing in different hospitals showed similarities which reflected that the barriers faced by men in the nursing profession were still pervasive, consistent and had undergone few changes over time. Recommendations: Recommendations were categorised into community, general education, nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This research project was aimed at identifying the perceptions of adolescent boys and girls with regard to the role function of men and women in society. Quantitative and qualitative methods, and a hybrid form of sampling were employed in this research project. The sample for this study was drawn from 5 secondary schools and comprised 65 boys and 65 girls. The adolescents' perceptions were analysed and interrogated critically against the yardstick provided by the non-sexist values of the South African constitution. An attempt was made to identify the extent to which the adolescents' perceptions are in synch with rigid patriarchy, sexism and the gendered division of labour, and the extent to which the adolescents' perceptions are in synch with the non-sexist South African constitution. The analysis of the adolescents' perceptions were informed inter alia by the theories of essentialism and constructivism. The research revealed, inter alia, that most of the adolescents reject rigid patriarchy; reject the gendered division of labour in some spheres ; accept the gendered division of labour in some spheres ; accept and favour the economic empowerment of women ; believe that sex should be negotiated ; believe that men are more suited to be leaders than women ; are against the perpetration of violence by either of the sexes and are homophobic and heterosexist • It was also evident that while both boys and girls rejected rigid patriarchy; girls were decidedly more receptive to the empowerment of women than boys. The study revealed that while there has been an erosion of the rigid division of the masculinized public sphere and the feminized domestic sphere, the public sphere is perceived as one in which men should dominate while the domestic sphere is deemed more suitable for women than men with women and men playing supportive, subdued albeit ever increasing roles in the public and domestic spheres respectively - the researcher as termed the existing perception the yin-yang worldview and the emergent perception the yanging-yin-yining-yang worldview. The study also highlighted that perceptions are not determined entirely by knowledge and ideals and served to bring home forcefully, the overriding potency of social realities and conditioning in shaping and regulating perceptions. In short the study demonstrated that the adolescents have not fully embraced the non-sexist values of the new constitution. The findings of the study were utilized by the researcher as a diagnostic instrument to produce recommendations and solutions - based on Freirean praxis - for the elimination of sexist, patriarchical perceptions. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2003.