Traditionally and historically certain jobs have been recognized as male or female professions leading to the assumption that the barrier crossing men and women working in these gender atypical jobs are being less masculine and less feminine. The aim of this study is to examine similarities and differences among male social workers and female police officers in the experience of being a gender minority in their workplace and how it effects the construction of their gender identity. Working with a qualitative approach and using semi-constructed interviews the study was conducted by interviewing a total of five social workers and four female police officers, in six different communities, about their personal experiences of being a gender minority in a gender atypical job. The result shows both differences and similarities between the genders and their occupation; on a personal level neither of the respondents seemed to have a problem working in a gender atypical job although admitting that working in a “female” and “male” profession had effects on their personality but not on how they viewed themselves as men or women. On a group level the respondents experienced both differences and similarities; both genders talked about being stereotyped into taking on certain tasks but also about having advantages of being male or female in certain situations. Further on the female police officers talked about being pushed aside to give room for the male colleagues while the male social workers experienced the opposite; being more acknowledged. On a societal level respondents from both groups were talking about a shift in societies showcasing that the view on men and women and what is considered male and female have been or in a process of being disintegrated. The results were seen from a social constructionist viewing point and were interpreted and analyzed using following theories and theoretical concepts: Stereotype, gender, role theory, identity, gender identity and the theory about the mirrored self.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-45089 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Augustsson, Johan, Gunnarsson, Simon |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA), Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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