Feminine Occupations Research Articles

The ideal partner: gender-occupation congruence and incongruence

ABSTRACT Chinese adults’ preference for long-term partners who had a gender-congruent or gender-incongruent occupation were examined. Participants were 442 university students who described themselves as heterosexual. They evaluated opposite-sex targets in traditional female or male occupations. It was found that the Chinese adults endorsed traditional occupational roles in the selection of ideal partners. Men viewed women in feminine occupations to be more family-oriented, more sexually loyal, and more likely to treat their male partners as the head of household, compared with women in masculine occupations. Women viewed men with traditional male occupations as more work-oriented and more likely to be the head of household, but less sexually loyal and less family-oriented. The results are relevant for interventions aimed at increasing people’s participation in counter-stereotypical careers.

‘Bulldozers aren’t just for boys’: respectful relationships education challenges gender bias in early primary students

ABSTRACT Addressing respect, gender equity and gender-based violence in schools has a long history. Renewed government efforts to address gender-based violence in schools through a whole school approach have commenced under the umbrella ‘respectful relationships education’. The research presented in this paper is nestled within a larger project aimed to evaluate the implementation and impact of a whole school approach to respectful relationships education across two Australian states (Our Watch, forthcoming). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of a six-month respectful relationships education program on the gender awareness and bias of early primary school students. Using a single group pre-post test research design, students from two primary schools in Australia completed a survey before (n = 202) and after (n = 217) completion of a respectful relationships education pilot program. A modified version of the Children’s Occupation, Activities, and Traits-Attitudes Measure (COAT-AM; Liben and Bigler, 2002) and the Children’s Occupation, Activities, and Traits-Personal Measure (COAT-PM; Liben and Bigler, 2002) were used to assess students’ views about gender. After the pilot, boys and girls were significantly less likely to consider stereotypically masculine occupations and activities as only for boys and stereotypically feminine occupations and activities as only for girls. Results indicate that ongoing respectful relationships education could be an effective way to disrupt gender stereotyping in early primary school students.

An ERP Study of the Temporal Course of Gender-Color Stroop Effect.

Pink and blue colors have been found to associate with gender stereotypes in previous Western studies. The purpose of the present study was to explore the neuropsychological processing basis of this effect in contemporary Chinese society. We presented stereotypically masculine or feminine occupation words in either pink or blue colors to Chinese college students in a modified Stroop paradigm, in which participants were asked to classify each occupation word by gender as quickly and accurately as possible. Event-related potential (ERP) signals were concurrently recorded in order to identify the temporal dynamics of gender stereotypical interference effect. The behavioral results showed that pink–masculine stimuli elicited a longer response time and lower accuracy than blue–masculine stimuli in the participants, while no such differences were observed between pink–feminine and blue–feminine conditions. The ERP results further revealed distinctive neural processing stages for pink–masculine stimuli (i.e., in comparison to the other three types of stimuli) in P200, N300, N400, and P600. Overall, our results suggested that pink but not blue was a “gendered” color in Chinese culture. Moreover, our ERP findings contributed to the understanding of the neural mechanism underlying the processing of gender–color stereotypes.

Factors influencing recruitment and retention of male nurses in Macau and mainland China: a collaborative, qualitative study

BackgroundMacau and the Mainland China have different political and socio-economic policies but are both influenced by Chinese culture. By comparing the professional development experiences of male nurses from Macau and the Mainland, this study aims to explore factors influencing the recruitment and retention of male nurses.MethodsA collaborative, qualitative approach was adopted in which researchers from Macau and the Mainland were jointly involved in carrying out interviews and analyzing data. A total of 24 clinical male nurses were invited, with 12 each from Macau the Mainland. Recruitment was based on purposive sampling from various health institutions in the two regions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2017–2018 with similar interview guidelines for both Macau and the Mainland sites. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis, and Nvivo11 Plus software was used to facilitate the analysis.ResultsKey facilitators/barriers to recruitment and retention of male nurses were clustered under the two research questions: 1) What are the factors influencing the recruitment of male nurses? 2) What are the factors influencing the retention of male nurses? Males in Macau and the Mainland experienced pressure while entering nursing because of the stereotype that nursing is a feminine occupation. However, males in Macau chose nursing as a college major under their own volition while males in the Mainland were mostly forced into nursing. The males in Macau hardly thought of leaving nursing while their Mainland counterparts constantly felt uncertain about their professional future. The males on both sides hoped to thrive in career development. While the Macanese tended to pursue advanced programs in specialty nursing for better health care in the frontline, the Mainlanders wanted to get promoted to leave the frontline.ConclusionMale nurses in Macau and Mainland share some common experiences in professional development but have different views and values regarding nursing.

Early Childhood Care in France: Impediments to the Professionalization of a Little-Institutionalized Feminine Occupation

In the early-childhood care sector, the occupation of home-based childcare providers is especially subject to the familialist paradigm that assigns women from modest backgrounds with little formal education to this almost exclusively feminine line of work. This study focuses more specifically on home-based childcare providers working in rural and suburban areas, spaces that are marked by isolation and a lack of interlocutors. There are many limitations to the occupation’s professionalization model (Aballea, 2005; Alberola, 2009). After providing an overview of the institutional norm of nursery school as it contrasts with the informal situation of home-based childcare, analysis shifts to three obstacles to expressing demand for training that are indices of low professionalization: the place and space of work, little social and familial arrangements, and work skills. Finally, in counterpoint, the article explores the role of the employment contract with parents in formalizing a feminine occupation that is still seen as a customary familial service (Dupraz, 2008).

Experiences of Male Student Nurse Midwives in Malawi During Undergraduate Education.

Background:Historically, nursing has evolved from being a feminine profession to a profession accepted by both sexes. In the contemporary world, gender mainstreaming has been instituted as a global strategy in promoting gender equality. Though men continue to join nursing, they face many challenges. It is believed that through proper socialization some of the challenges can be addressed. In Malawi, there is dearth of literature on this subject. This resulted in undertaking the study.Objective:The goal of the study was to describe experiences of male student nurses during undergraduate education in Malawi.Methods:A qualitative descriptive design was utilised. Focus group discussions were conducted with study participants in purposively selected nursing colleges.Findings:Male student nurse midwives faced more negative than positive experiences in nursing. The following three major themes were generated: nursing is a feminine occupation, facing discrimination and socialisation experienced.Conclusion:Malawian male student nurse midwives face both positive and negative experiences during their integration in nursing. Formulation and implementation of gender sensitive policies would help in strengthening male nurse education.

Recent Trends of Expressing Female Occupation Names and Titles in Romanian

루마니아어에서 곡용을 하는 품사군(nume)에는 문법적 성(gen gramatical)이 존재하며 이것의 형태적 구분은 라틴어의 영향으로 매우 발달해 있는편이다. 본 논문은 문법적으로 남성형과 여성형으로 구별된 직업명·직함의 사회적 코노테이션 및 여성에 대한 남성형 직업명·직함의 사용이 가져올수 있는 언어적 규범과 관련된 문제점에 대해서 분석하였다. 남성형과 여성형으로 구별된 직업명·직함이 있는 경우 일반적으로 여성형 직업명·직함의 권위가 남성형에 비해서 더 낮은 것으로 인식되기 때문에 최근에는 이것을, 특히 엘리트 고학력 중심의 직업명과 고위직의 직함에서, 남성형으로 통일시키려는 경향을 보이고 있다. 하지만 이러한 경향이 의미적, 형태·통사적 측면에서 전통적 문법 규범의 중심인 “문법적 성의 일 치”라는 부분과 배치(背馳) 될 수 있다는 문제를 만들어낼 수 있는 바, 이부분에 대해서 루마니아어의 매스미디어를 중심으로 살펴보았으며 몇 가지 측면에서 상당히 혼란스러운 모습이 존재하고 있음을 볼 수 있었다.Grammatical gender is highly developed in Romanian like other Romance Languages. Latin infleunces on Romanian left systematic declension forms on parts of speeches such as noun, pronoun, adjective, article and number. This article aims at studying from a sociolinguistic viewpoint how grammatical gender is influencing the language and its connotation which is closely related with a society and a culture on which the given language is based. This article gave a special attention on occupation names and titles because they can show clearly the influences of grammatical gender on language. Generally the occupation names and titles divided both masculine and feminine are something classic one which existed from long before. The new occupation names and titles are usually used by one form of masculine. This is because the feminine occupation names or titles are considered to have less authority and power compared to masculine forms. Even though this trend has a reasonable bases, it is possible to make confusions of according grammatical gender in the morphological and syntactical parts which is a central axle of Romanian traditional grammar.

The Relationship between Adult Occupational Preferences and Childhood Gender Nonconformity among Samoan Women, Men, and Fa'afafine.

Previous research has found that sex differences in occupational preferences are both substantial and cross-culturally universal. Androphilic males tend to display "gender-shifted" occupational preferences, with relatively female-typical interests. Past research has overwhelmingly relied on Western samples; this article offers new insights from a non-Western setting. Known locally as fa'afafine, androphilic males in Samoa occupy a third-gender category. Data were collected in Samoa from 103 men, 103 women, and 103 fa'afafine regarding occupational preferences and recalled childhood gender nonconformity (CGN). A substantial sex difference was observed in the occupational preferences of men and women (d=2.04). Interestingly, women and fa'afafine did not differ in their preferences (p=0.89), indicating a complete gender inversion of occupational preferences in the latter. Although there was no correlation between women's CGN and masculine occupational preferences, there was a significant correlation (r=-0.62) between these variables in both men and fa'afafine. Among males (both men and fa'afafine), increased CGN was associated with preference for feminine occupations. The present research corroborates past findings and furnishes support for the conclusion that female-typical occupational preferences are a cross-culturally invariant aspect of male androphilia.

What are male teachers’ understandings of masculinities?—an exploration of sex, gender and bodies in Irish primary schools

AbstractPrimary teaching has traditionally been framed by assumptions about gender. These commonly held, but seldom voiced, assumptions have a strong impact on male primary schoolteachers and on men considering teaching as a career. Focusing on the lives of five Irish male primary teachers, this article unpacks a number of the assumptions relating to men who teach children at primary level. Many of the assumptions are often shrouded in silence, which increases the difficulty in addressing them. In this context, discussions surrounding the topics of care, men working with young children and teaching as a feminine occupation, are presented. The study employs three data-collection phases using the interview as the primary method of enquiry. Overall, two major challenges were identified: informal barriers and the concept of care in education. The study’s findings show that gender relations within a feminine environment are central to understanding masculinities in primary schools. This article makes a contribution towards revealing how issues of masculinities are navigated and negotiated on a daily basis. Allied to this, it also provides a context for understanding the challenges male teachers face on a continuous basis. This article is published as part of a thematic collection on gender studies.

Untangling Life Goals and Occupational Stereotypes in Men’s and Women’s Career Interest

Gender Role Congruity Theory predicts that women would be more attracted to masculine-stereotyped occupations and men would be more attracted to feminine-stereotyped occupations if the occupations were perceived as affording goals that aligned with their gender roles. This study of college STEM (science technology engineering, and mathematics) students systematically examined the impact of occupation stereotypes and life goals related to career status, family, and helping others on career interest. Participants, drawn from introductory STEM classes (N = 186, 88 female) at a public university in the Southeastern U.S., indicated their preferences between pairs of occupations that differed in their gender stereotype. Within each occupation pair, one occupation was described as compatible with one of three goals (high salary, family-friendly, and helping others). A 1 year follow-up was conducted on 148 of the original and an additional 52 new participants (N = 200, 103 female). Results indicated that men showed greater interest in masculine occupations, regardless of the goal affordance of the alternative feminine occupation. For women, occupations with higher salaries received greater interest ratings than occupations associated with helping others (masculine or feminine stereotyped) and family friendly work hours (masculine stereotyped only). For women, family-friendly occupations were rated similarly to higher salary occupations, only in the feminine-stereotyped conditions. Findings were generally replicated at the second time point. These counterintuitive findings suggest the need for research to examine how gender differences in life goals change over the early adult years for women and men in STEM and other fields.

Gender and jobs: Evidence from urban labour market in India

This paper examines the trend, pattern, structure and qualitative aspects of jobs available to women workers in Urban Areas in the post-reform period. Apart from this, the paper also analyses the determinant of female work participation and their sectoral and occupational choice of work. The study finds that over a period of time female work participation has declined in urban areas despite having a wide spectrum of job opportunities. The magnitude of decline is much sharper in the case of illiterate women, women from lower castes and poorest economic classes. Considering the structure of employment, it is observed that the female employment in regular salaried jobs has increased but in the other two categories it has declined. However, within regular salaried jobs, females are highly concentrated in few low-productivity sectors and stereotypical feminine occupations. Further, a very sharp inequality by class is noticed among regular salaried women workers. The paper finds that women from the poorest classes are highly concentrated in the informal sector with no job contract, no social security and extremely poor working condition as compared to workers from the richest class. The paper argues for an urgent policy intervention to ensure access to productive and decent jobs and to provide protection to these vulnerably placed women workers.

Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Anxieties of the Archive

Abstract: Twenty-five years ago, Robert K. Martin published an important essay that explored the gendered anxiety of authorship that left its traces throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s career. Given that novel-writing was understood in mid-nineteenth-century America as an essentially feminine occupation, did Hawthorne perceive himself as emasculated? Savoy supplements Martin’s argument by taking up the “fiction” of authorship, specifically the personage of “Nathaniel Hawthorne” that is constructed in “The Custom-House.” Previously, Savoy focused on Hawthorne’s gothic poetics as the figurative matrix within which the “author” accepts the exhortation of Surveyor Pue to fulfill his “filial duty” by delivering to the public the historical romance of Hester Prynne. This new article explores the “psychic economy” of what Jacques Derrida conceptualizes as the event of the archive—that is, the performative ways in which subjects are constituted precisely as subjects, in conformity with the regulatory ideals of nation, religious tradition, and gender. If there is no subject without a subtending and largely mythical archive of cultural practice, then “The Custom-House” is a spectacular mise-en-scène—rhetorically rich and charged with affect—of the ritualistic protocols of assujettissement.

A descriptive overview of the education and income levels of domestic workers in post-apartheid South Africa

A lack of protective employment legislation coupled with the racial and class prejudices of apartheid, resulted in the general exploitation of South African domestic workers (mostly female black Africans and Coloureds). This was perpetrated through education policies detrimental to non-whites and the exclusion of non-whites from skilled labour—consequently many were channelled into unskilled jobs such as domestic work, and forced to endure poor salaries and living conditions. Despite the implementation of new democratic legislation to cover the basic conditions of employment for domestic workers, their education and income levels remain relatively unequal. This article provides a descriptive overview of the education and income levels of domestic workers in South Africa. Statistics from Statistics South Africa show that domestic workers have relatively lower education and income levels compared to other occupations or economic sectors. Significant differences are also observed in the education and income levels of domestic workers in different parts of South Africa. Richer municipalities have more educated and high-earning domestic workers, while the reverse applies to poorer municipalities located mostly in rural and former homeland areas. There is also an increase in the feminisation of the labour market, as more women undertake perceived masculine jobs such as plant and machine operators, while men avoid perceived feminine occupations such as domestic work. This article concludes by making recommendations for future research into this topic.

Women as translators, as translation trainers, and as translation scholars

Over the centuries, women have always played a significant part in translation practice, training, and theoretical reflection. In fact, translation (and interpreting) have often been characterized as a feminine occupation. This chapter looks at these three aspects predominantly from a quantitative perspective. In terms of the profession, it investigates the distribution of male and female translators and interpreters in the United Kingdom and the subject areas they are working in. For women's contribution to the academic discipline of Translation Studies, it investigates the amount of female authors who contributed to the discipline with their publications and asks whether female scholars focus on specific topics. Finally, it investigates leadership roles of women in professional associations. The paper concludes by reflecting on the potential significance of such studies. © 2013.

MEN AND WOMEN AT WORK: THE EFFECTS OF OBJECTIFICATION ON COMPETENCE, PAY, AND FIT FOR THE JOB

In spite of the growing interest in objectification, very few studies have examined the effects of objectification of others, in reference to both men and women. The present research is focused on the consequences of objectification in the occupational domain. The main goals were: a) investigating the effects of objectification on the perception of men's and women's compe- tence and pay; and b) investigating the effects of objectification on the perception of men and women as suitable for high- versus low-status jobs. Results showed that objectification does not affect the perception of competence, but increases the estimated pay. For high-status jobs, the effect of objectification interacts with gender, increasing women's fit for a masculine job and decreasing men's fit for a feminine occupation. Finally, objectification increases the suitability for low-status jobs, and this is particularly true for women holding service-oriented professions. Implications are discussed.

The photoplay or the pickaxe: extras, gender, and labour in early Hollywood

During the 1910s, the extra girl emerged as a type of "star" whose persona was defined by the always ambivalent narrative associated with extra work: that the discovery of unknown talent or screen charisma could equal fame and fortune. This essay examines the emergence of the extra girl as the representative of the film industry's anonymous underclass, whose rise as a figure of fascination and concern deflected attention from the heterogeneous appeal of extra work. Despite scandal and controversy, the extra girl represented a much more manageable image of Hollywood's underclass than the chaotically diverse and potentially radical masses that were also glimpsed at the studio gates. In describing the cultural politics of extra labor, the essay focuses on the de-professionalization of extra work, narrative tropes that helped define extra labor as a feminine occupation, and attempts to manage labor problems with extras in Los Angeles's burgeoning film studios.

Gender, Values, and Occupational Interests Among Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Work fulfills personal values, perhaps differently for males and females. Explored here was the role values play in shaping occupational interests. Study 1 examined children's, adolescents', and adults' (N = 313) occupational values (regarding money, power, family, altruism), occupational interests, and perceptions of values afforded by traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. Results revealed sex differences in occupational values and interests. Furthermore, participants' values predicted their own interests in culturally masculine and feminine occupations. Study 2 used novel jobs and experimentally manipulated prototypical sex of worker and value affordances to disentangle their effects on occupational interests. At all ages, participants' (N = 240) occupational interests were affected by the depicted sex of the workers and by the stated value affordances of the jobs.

Henry the Nurse is a Doctor Too: Implicitly Examining Children’s Gender Stereotypes for Male and Female Occupational Roles

Eagly’s social role theory (Eagly and Steffen 1984) was tested examining children’s gender role stereotypes via implicit information processing and memory measures. We explored whether children’s occupational stereotypes were less restrictive for females who engaged in counterstereotypic occupations (Mary-Doctor) compared to males who engaged in counterstereotypic occupations (Henry-Nurse). Fifty-seven American eight- and nine-year-olds from a southwestern city were orally presented with stereotypic male and female names paired with masculine and feminine occupations and asked to create sentences using the name-occupation pairs. We conducted analyses of the created sentences as well as tested children’s memories for the various pairings. Consistent with social role theory, the findings revealed that children’s gender role stereotypes were more restrictive for males, than for females.

Moving Forward: Transgender Persons as Change Agents in Health Care Access and Human Rights

Daniel G. Cobos, BSN, MPH, RN, ACRN, is Ryan White Part C Program nurse/outreach coordinator, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. Jonathan Winston Jones, MA, is development associate, Nebraska Appleseed Center for the Law in the Public Interest, Lincoln, Nebraska. Transgender persons are on the front lines of negotiations on expectations of gender identity and expression. For the purpose of this report, transgender includes ‘‘any person who has a gender identity that is different from their natal sex and/or who expresses their gender in ways that contravene societal expectations of men and women’’ (Bockting, Robinson, Forberg, and Scheltema, 2005, p. 2). Gender variations have strong roots in the histories of many cultures. Depictions of transgender persons have been found in artifacts from ancient Rome. Some North American indigenous cultures include two-spirit people, meaning that individuals who embody both genders have been part of native cultures. Various Hindu cultures embrace the concept of hidras, which is neither man nor woman (Lombardi, 2001). Samoans accept fa’afafine (also spelled faafafine, fafafige, or fafafine), biological males who choose or are chosen to be raised female and fulfill important domestic roles in Samoan culture. The Thai are tolerant of kathoeys (also spelled katoey), male-to-female (MTF) transgender persons who often work in traditionally feminine occupations (Croall & Elder, 1999; Matzner, 1999; Winter & Udomsak, 2002). Today, transgender may include ‘‘crossdressers, drag kings/queens, transsexuals, people who are androgynous, Two-Spirit people, and people who are bi-gendered or multi-gendered, as well as people who do not identify with any labels’’ (Bockting et al., 2005, p. 2). Lack of acceptance of transgender persons in the United States is an important measurement of how far this country must go to realize its promise of equal

Gender Stereotypes and Women's Reports of Liking and Ability in Traditionally Masculine and Feminine Occupations

Gender stereotypes were examined for their causal influence on women's reported liking for and perceived ability to succeed in traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. One hundred twenty-one women were assigned to either a gender-stereotype activation or filler task and then completed measures of liking for, and perceived ability to succeed in, traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. Strongly gender-identified women showed significantly greater liking for feminine occupations in the stereotype-activation condition than in the control condition. However, more weakly identified women did not show the same effect. In contrast, women weak in gender identification reported an increase in perceived ability for feminine occupations when stereotypes were activated than in the control condition. Activating gender stereotypes did not shift reported liking or perceived ability in traditionally masculine occupations. These results demonstrate the theoretical and practical importance of gender stereotypes on women's career-related attitudes.