Physiotherapy in Sweden has developed from a practical, hands-on, assistant job predominantly taught at college level to a university-based academic discipline emphasising evidence-based practice and research. Women are in majority although an increasing number of men have entered the profession. Women and men physiotherapists tend to undertake different career paths. The overall aim of the present thesis was to use a gender perspective to describe and analyse attitudes to the professional role, health care work and the development of the profession among actors engaged in physiotherapy education. A questionnaire was distributed in 1997 to all Swedish physiotherapy students in the second semester of the education (n=273). The same cohort was investigated in 1999 at the completion of the education. The response rate was 93 percent at both occasions. For an international comparison, the same questionnaire was distributed in 1997 and in 1999 to a group of Canadian physiotherapy students in their first and last semesters (n=60). Qualitative research interviews were conducted with 8 novices in physiotherapy and with 14 women educators in academia. Five focus group discussions with clinical supervisors were conducted (10 women and 5 men). Methods used were Grounded theory, factor analysis, logistic regression and path analysis. Feminist theories and Bourdieu's theory of culture constituted a theoretical framework Four ideal types were identified among the novices representing attitudes to the professional role. The Treater and The Supervisor were attitudes found among the women, whereas The Coach and The Entrepreneur were attitudes among the men. Type of health care facility was important for their positioning in the organisational hierarchy. Swedish students favour future employment in private practice. Sports medicine clinics and fitness centres are health care facilities highly endorsed, as is health promotion. Neither care of elderly nor hospital work are preferable fields of practice. Research is not favoured. Men students are more likely to have chosen the profession because of their interest in physical activity and sports. They are also more likely to prefer owning a private clinic and working with alternative approaches such as fitness training in sports medicine clinics. Women students are more likely to prefer an employment in private practice. The Canadian men students favour private practice whereas the women prefer the public sector of health care. The academic educators experience a gap between theory and practice which causes conflicting messages to students. Competing professions, emergent societal change and a conservative clinical practice constitute threats to the profession. The uniqueness of professional competency, theoretical development and new arenas such as home rehabilitation, consulting and research constitute a vision for future development of the profession. Masculinity is highly valued for status and power whereas femininity symbolises empathy and caring. The clinical supervisors update their theoretical knowledge base through supervision of students, but claim that students lack hands-on skills. Stress at work, unequal power relations in the hierarchy and restructuring of health care are factors that influence work satisfaction negatively. To conclude, gendered habitus, different symbolic capital and different attitudes towards health care work and development of the profession were found in the sub-fields of physiotherapy. / digitalisering@umu

<p>The present thesis examines the possible reasons social workers have for entering and eventually graduating from the Social Work Department in Iraklio, Greece. It is a three-phase study, consisting of three distinct but related research parts; each research part is built upon knowledge, issues and questions derived from the preceding part.</p><p>My background in sociology influenced the choice of theoretical perspectives; I was not interested in investigating students’ choice from a psychologically-based perspective. Bourdieu (e.g. 1977; 1987) and the work of others who have drawn on and developed his work (e.g. Hodkinson & Sparkes, 1997; Reay, 1998a) constituted a theoretical framework. In addition, theoretical perspectives which recognise the interplay between individual and structural factors (e.g. Kasimati, 1991) also proved useful. In this work both quantitative and qualitative approaches (grounded theory, narrative analysis) were employed.</p><p>The findings contradict views that stress the degree of free choice people have about work; it is clear that external structural factors limit or contribute to the shaping of this choice. This is not to say, however, that the findings stress the determining influence of solely external factors on students’ choice. Students in this thesis describe actively making decisions; they are players in the field of education. They enter the field with unequal amounts of capital (economic, cultural); thus, although in theory everyone is free to play, not everyone is equal. To the extent that they have different social backgrounds (gender, class), their classed-and-gendered habitus differs as well. In the process of students’ educational choice, their habitus along with the particular educational system (with all its opportunities and restrictions) influence students’ horizons for action, their perceptions of what is available and appropriate for them. The high value placed on higher education (educational fetishism) is another factor influencing students’ horizons for action. In the context of their horizons for action, students employ a variety of strategies in order to enter higher education (e.g. the way they prepare for the exams, their ranking of Schools in preference order etc). The outcome of these strategies is their admission to the Social Work Department, which may have been intended or unintended. After having entered Social Work, additional factors influence students’ educational choice; experiences within the School (e.g. practice tutorials) contribute to their attitude towards social work and their studies, thus to their decision to graduate from the Social Work Department. Students’ decision-making process is made up of patterns of routine experience interspersed with turning points.</p>

The present thesis examines the possible reasons social workers have for entering and eventually graduating from the Social Work Department in Iraklio, Greece. It is a three-phase study, consisting of three distinct but related research parts; each research part is built upon knowledge, issues and questions derived from the preceding part. My background in sociology influenced the choice of theoretical perspectives; I was not interested in investigating students’ choice from a psychologically-based perspective. Bourdieu (e.g. 1977; 1987) and the work of others who have drawn on and developed his work (e.g. Hodkinson &amp; Sparkes, 1997; Reay, 1998a) constituted a theoretical framework. In addition, theoretical perspectives which recognise the interplay between individual and structural factors (e.g. Kasimati, 1991) also proved useful. In this work both quantitative and qualitative approaches (grounded theory, narrative analysis) were employed. The findings contradict views that stress the degree of free choice people have about work; it is clear that external structural factors limit or contribute to the shaping of this choice. This is not to say, however, that the findings stress the determining influence of solely external factors on students’ choice. Students in this thesis describe actively making decisions; they are players in the field of education. They enter the field with unequal amounts of capital (economic, cultural); thus, although in theory everyone is free to play, not everyone is equal. To the extent that they have different social backgrounds (gender, class), their classed-and-gendered habitus differs as well. In the process of students’ educational choice, their habitus along with the particular educational system (with all its opportunities and restrictions) influence students’ horizons for action, their perceptions of what is available and appropriate for them. The high value placed on higher education (educational fetishism) is another factor influencing students’ horizons for action. In the context of their horizons for action, students employ a variety of strategies in order to enter higher education (e.g. the way they prepare for the exams, their ranking of Schools in preference order etc). The outcome of these strategies is their admission to the Social Work Department, which may have been intended or unintended. After having entered Social Work, additional factors influence students’ educational choice; experiences within the School (e.g. practice tutorials) contribute to their attitude towards social work and their studies, thus to their decision to graduate from the Social Work Department. Students’ decision-making process is made up of patterns of routine experience interspersed with turning points.

Η παρούσα εργασία συνιστά μια προσπάθεια να σκιαγραφηθεί το πολιτισμικό και κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο των εκπαιδευτών και των εκπαιδευτριών ενηλίκων που εργάζονται σε ΣΔΕ, καθώς επίσης να διερευνηθεί η επίδραση του φύλου αναφορικά με την δόμηση αυτών των κεφαλαίων και το πεδίο της εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων. Για την πραγματοποίηση της έρευνας υιοθετήσαμε ποιοτική μεθοδολογία, αξιοποιώντας την ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη ως εργαλείο συλλογής δεδομένων και την ποιοτική ανάλυση περιεχομένου για την ανάλυση των δεδομένων που συλλέξαμε κατά την ερευνητική διαδικασία. Η θεωρία του Pierre Bourdieu χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως ερμηνευτικό πλαίσιο. Το δείγμα της έρευνάς μας αποτελείται από δώδεκα εκπαιδεύτριες ενηλίκων και έξι εκπαιδευτές ενηλίκων. Τα βασικά συμπεράσματα της έρευνας είναι τα εξής: το έμφυλο habitus επηρεάζει περισσότερο τη σύσταση και τον όγκο του θεσμοποιημένου κεφαλαίου, την αξιοποίηση του κοινωνικού κεφαλαίου στο πεδίο της εργασίας τους καθώς επίσης τις πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτών και εκπαιδευτριών ενηλίκων όσον αφορά την επαγγελματική τους εξέλιξη. Το ταξικό habitus φαίνεται να είναι σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό υπεύθυνο για το ενσωματωμένο κεφάλαιο των συμμετεχόντων, καθώς επίσης και του αντικειμενοποιημένου κεφαλαίου τους και της δυνατότητας της «πνευματικής κατανόησης» αυτού. / This paper is an attempt to outline the cultural and social capital of male and female adult educators who are working in Second Chance Schools, and to investigate the effect of gender in relation to the construction of these capitals and the field of adult education. To carry out the research we adopted a qualitative methodology, utilizing the semi-structured interview as a data collection tool and the qualitative content analysis to analyze the data collected during the research process. The theory of Pierre Bourdieu was used as an interpretative framework. The sample of our research consists of twelve female adult educators and six male adult educators. The main conclusions of the research are the following: the gendered habitus most affects the composition and volume of the institutionalized cultural capital, the use of the social capital within the field of their work as well as the practices of male and female adult educators regarding their professional development. The class habitus seems to account for the embodied capital of the participants to a greater extent, as well as the objectified capital and the possibility of "intellectual understanding" of this.

Στην παρούσα μελέτη επιχειρείται η εξέταση των απόψεων των γυναικών μελών ΔΕΠ του πανεπιστημίου Πατρών σχετικά με τους παράγοντες που τις ώθησαν να ακολουθήσουν το ακαδημαϊκό επάγγελμα, όπως και των δυσκολιών που αυτές αντιμετωπίζουν στο εν λόγω πανεπιστημιακό πεδίο κατά την άσκηση του επαγγέλματός τους. Είναι μια ποιοτική προσέγγιση. Τα ερευνητικά υποκείμενα είναι είκοσι γυναίκες μέλη ΔΕΠ του Πανεπιστήμιου της Πάτρας, στις βαθμίδες της επίκουρης, αναπληρώτριας και καθηγήτριας. Η ερευνητική μέθοδος της συλλογής των δεδομένων είναι η ημιδομημένη συνέντευξη, η δε μέθοδος ανάλυσης, η ποιοτική ανάλυση περιεχομένου. Η επιλογή των θεωρητικών εννοιών του Bourdieu στις οποίες στηρίζεται η παρούσα μελέτη, είναι αυτές του habitus, του έμφυλου habitus, του πεδίου, του επιστημονικού πεδίου, του Κεφαλαίου, του πολιτισμικού κεφαλαίου, της συμβολικής βίας και τέλος της συμβολικής κυριαρχίας. Βασικά ευρήματα της παρούσας μελέτης αποτελούν τα εξής: α) παράγοντες που συμβάλλουν στην είσοδο των γυναικών στο επιστημονικό πεδίο του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, αποτελούν το ισχυρό πολιτισμικό κεφάλαιο που διαθέτουν, η παρώθηση από το οικογενειακό τους περιβάλλον, το ανδρικό πρότυπο ενός καθηγητή μέντορα, οι ευεργετικές διατάξεις του νόμου 1268/82 και τέλος η αγάπη τους για το ακαδημαϊκό επάγγελμα και το γνωστικό τους αντικείμενο, ιδιαίτερα δε για την έρευνα και β) οι δυσκολίες που αντιμετωπίζουν οι γυναίκες μέλη Δ.Ε.Π. του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών συνδέονται με: τις απαιτήσεις του ακαδημαϊκού επαγγέλματος σε σχέση με τις υποχρεώσεις της γυναίκας ως συζύγου και μητέρας, τις έμφυλες αντιλήψεις και προκαταλήψεις για το γυναικείο φύλο στο ακαδημαϊκό επάγγελμα και την ελλειμματική κατοχή επιστημονικού κεφαλαίου σε σχέση με τους άνδρες ομότεχνούς τους. / This study attempted to examine the views of women faculty members at the University of Patras on the factors that led them to pursue the academic profession, and the difficulties they face in this scientific field during the exercise of their university profession. The research has the form of qualitative case study in which the research subjects are twenty women faculty members at the University of Patras, in the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. The research method of collecting data is the semi structured interview, and the method of analysis is the qualitative content analysis. The selection of Bourdieu's theoretical concepts underlying this study are those of habitus, gendered habitus, field, scientific field, capital, cultural capital, symbolic violence and symbolic dominance. Key findings of this study are the following: a) factors that contribute to women entering the scientific field of the University of Patras are their strong cultural capital, the strong impulse from their familial environment, the male model of a professor as a mentor, the beneficial provisions of the law 1268/82 and their love for the academic profession and their discipline of the subject, especially for research and b) the difficulties faced by women faculty members of the University of Patras associated with: the requirements of the academic profession in relation to the woman’s obligations as a wife and mother, gendered perceptions and prejudices about the female gender in the academic profession and the lack of scientific capital.