Thesis Format
Integrated Article
Degree
Master of Science
Program
Psychology
Supervisor
Dr. Rachel Calogero
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.
Summary for Lay Audience
Although women’s participation in traditionally male-dominated STEM occupations (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) continues to increase, the same pattern is not observed among men entering traditionally female-dominated HEED jobs (Healthcare, Elementary Education, and Domestic roles) such as nursing. Likewise, previous research has focused on ways to increase women’s participation in STEM to decrease the gendering of these professions, however in comparison, not as much research has explored ways to increase men’s participation in HEED. There are a few suggestions made by previous research to increase men’s involvement in HEED jobs such as nursing, with one suggestion being to reframe them using agentic language. Agency is defined as the ability for people to act on their own behalf, make choices, and take charge of their lives. Agency is also often associated with the male gender role, as it corresponds to traits such as assertiveness and independence. In this way, agency reflects traditional masculine norms, as men are expected to be in command, make decisions, and establish authority. Since men are stereotypically associated with agency, male-dominated professions, along with the people who participate in these fields, are also stereotyped with agentic characteristics as well. In contrast, female-dominated jobs are stereotyped in the same manner but with communion. This relates to the quality of maintaining interpersonal relationships and the degree to which people care for one another and behave in nurturing and empathetic ways. Communion is often stereotypically associated with the female gender role, which includes relational sensitivity, nurture, and care for others. Research shows that men have lower interest in HEED jobs because they have lower self-ratings on communal traits and do not think they would be successful in these fields. As a result, the present study explored whether describing nursing using agentic language (instead of communal terms) could increase men’s interest in this job, however no increase in men’s sense of belonging, positive attitudes, aspirations, and support for men in nursing was found. This suggests that reframing of HEED may not be enough to challenge men’s internalized gender biases. Nonetheless, these findings help us better understand the complexities of gender occupational stereotypes.
Recommended Citation
Chaudhry, Warda, "Men Take HEED: Gender Stereotypes as a Barrier to Men’s Involvement in Female - Dominated Occupations" (2024). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 10133.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10133
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.