Men Take HEED: Gender Stereotypes as a Barrier to Men’s Involvement in Female - Dominated Occupations
Abstract
Healthcare, elementary education, and domestic roles (HEED) reflect women-dominated occupational domains where men continue to be underrepresented. The gender stereotypes attached to these occupations may be one psychological factor underlying men’s low participation. The present research examined whether shifting gender stereotype content associated with nursing would increase men’s positive attitudes, aspirations, sense of belonging, and support for men in nursing, and whether these effects would be moderated by personal valuing of agency and communion. Men recruited through Prolific (n = 249) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which they read an article that varied the agentic and communal traits attached to nursing. Contrary to predictions, exposure to agentic vs. communal stereotype content did not lead to more engagement with nursing; however, individual valuing of agency vs. communion mattered, especially for men in the communal condition. These findings provide valuable insights into the complexity of gender stereotypes within nursing and the endorsement of communion among men.