Sex Role Stereotyping and Occupational Segregation in Nursing - Coursework Example

Sociology of work 2007 Outline: A) Sex role stereotyping and occupational segregation. B) Males in nursing Nursing as a ‘female’ occupation. Historical perspective. 2. Gender issues in nursing experiences of men. 3. Patriarchal gender relations in nursing 4. the reasons of me to choose nursing as profession C) Conclusion In western society sex determines status pushing an individual into certain occupational roles. Existence of sex-roles stereotypes is imbedded in society. As a result we have occupational segregation by sex which means that certain occupations are introduced by majority of workers of one sex and social expectations support this state of things though there’s no real sexual division of labour based on gender variable. (Fottler, 1976 p.100) Labour market is divided into ‘female’ and ‘male’ occupations. Though the situation is changing and more women become involved in ‘male’ occupations and men in ‘female’, certain stereotyping concerning sex roles still exists in modern world. Sex role stereotyping is nurtured from early childhood. Children are exposed to sex stereotypes early through the influence of TV, toys and games and child-rearing practices. At school the stereotyping is intensified: the duties are divided according to sex, physical activities and facilities available for boys and girls. Children experience sex differentiation and adult values and attitudes plays a significant role on this stage of socialization. (Crow and Taebel, 1976 p.360) Occupational division is a product of human ability to construct the world. Many jobs and roles ‘involve manifestly observable activities that could be objectively verified.’ For example, cultural conceptions of masculinity include an emphasis on technical skills, on rationality, on control and manipulation. Thus different jobs require different competencies ‘derived from dominant conceptions of what is important or critical for adequate or good performance in that job.’ (Dick and Nadin, 2006 p.482) Members of profession are usually identified by certain characteristics like personality traits, behaviour or physical characteristics which are typical to the profession. Their professional identification leads to stereotypes of a profession and these characteristics become associated with a particular group. This leads to not accurate reflection of information about the profession and is often coupled with unfair discrimination. (Horman, Campbell, and DeGregory, 1987 p.850) Talking about nursing and the role of males in this occupation, research suggests that, ‘the sex-typing of nursing is undoubtedly due to social, cultural and economic values that provide disincentives for males to enter this traditionally female occupation.’ (Fottler, 1976 p.102) In male dominated patriarchal society nursing is viewed as a feminine occupation and is stereotyped as having feminine traits of nurturing and caring. Male traits of strength, dominance and aggression seem to be out of understanding of nursing. Women’ roles are associated with mothering and caring and domestic work of women which was prevailing construct during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. So historically nursing has been associated with female domestic work and that’s how gendered nature of caring in nursing can be explained. Gender expectations in nursing are based on cultural and social constructions as well as the hierarchical structures of class, gender and ethnicity. Despite the changes in female lives and entry of men into nursing, the perceptions of a nurse as a woman still persist. (Allan, 2005 p.175) In the study of Horman, Campbell and DeGregory (1987 p.851) finding indicate that gender issue effect the understanding of medical staff roles. ‘Male providers tended to be identified as physicians, whereas female providers tended to be identified as nurse practitioners’ suggesting of the persistence of sex-role stereotypes. Nursing has always been referred to as a ‘feminine’ occupation. There are two explanations for this stereotype. Certain jobs require personality traits possessed mostly by one gender. If nursing is about caring and women are perceived as better caregivers, the outcome is that women are believed to be better nurses. On the other hand this social stereotype is intensified by the fact that females prevail in nursing occupation proving the observation that nursing is a ‘female’ profession. (White and White, 2006) Society’ expectations of gender roles seem to matter till nowadays. When people see someone building identity which is different from societal expectation, they seem to feel uncomfortable. This is true in respect to male nurses, as people are expected to see only females as nurses. These perceptions deter men from entering nursing. (Neighbours) Male registered nurses are only 5.4 percent of the total RN population in the United States. The reason of this disproportion is that men are not encouraged to choose a profession of a nurse. (Larocco, 2007 p.121) Men are looking for more appropriate fields of nursing to enhance their prestige and pay. Besides even in a ‘female’ profession men have advantages: male breadwinner stereotype plays a key role – men are viewed as more dedicated to their work, more responsible and reliable. The male traits turn out to be helpful in top positions in nursing. (Neighbours) The fact that men were nurses from ancient times has been ignored in modern society to support the image of a woman-nurse. However, historic records suggest that men were engaged in nursing 2,000 years ago when in 250 B.C a males-only nursing school was opened in India. The Parabolani brotherhood in 3rd century Rome voluntarily took care of the sick and burial of the dead. During the 15th century Crusades the Knights Hospitalers took care of sick pilgrims. In 19th century the view of nursing changed and was seen as solely female occupation due to the efforts of Florence Nightingale. (Avery, 2007) Ms Nightingale considered nursing to be a female profession as nursing involves qualities of caring and compassion which are purely feminine traits. This impacted the admission of male students to nursing schools. By 1941, only 68 out of 1303 schools of nursing in the United States admitted male students. (Neighbours) The gender stereotype in nursing is supported by a division of labor in healthcare in which ‘physicians cure and nurses care.’ This division underscored the value of nursing as a profession. While curing was viewed as a field requiring expert knowledge and skills acquired in course of formal training, caring required no special skills and was a part of domestic responsibilities of wives and mothers. (Apesoa-Varano and Varano, 2004 p. 78) Nursing seen as ‘an extension of the domestic role’ further devalued the profession for men. It is still viewed as a female profession and it can be clearly seen through gender references in nursing texts and even in children literature where a nurse is always a woman. (Neighbours) Smith (2006 p.263) researching male learners entering the field of nursing found out that among factors which retain men from nursing are not only attitude towards male nurses but also general vision of a nurse as a female. Smith (2006 p.263) writes that ‘students felt that the instructors and texts were geared toward women.’ Men studying nursing often experience isolation as they have few male role models on the faculty and few male peers. Male nursing students can be even addressed as ‘girls’ and ‘she’ is common reference in test questions. There’re no any male images in nursing history books. This all makes male students feel excluded and ‘invisible.’ (Poliafico, 1998 p.41) Gender issues in nursing school experiences of male students are cited as ‘lack of locker facilities, few or no male nurses in clinical settings, no male faculty, and the exclusive use of women in textbooks.’ (Smith, 2006 p.264) Attracting men into nursing is going to raise the prestige of nursing as a whole. The reasons behind choosing a career of a nurse by a man are different: from a wish to work in a humanistic field to the desire to become a doctor eventually, but the evidence suggests that male nurses assign ‘the values of the higher status profession to the lower status profession.’ (Neighbours) Nevertheless, male nurses are perceived in society as men different from others. Morrall (2001 p.15) writes about stereotyping in nursing: “Male nurses are stereotyped as effeminate, homosexual, sexually incontinent, camp and in the wrong job because only female biology is thought to be capable of proliferating caring.” Labelling male nurses can be categorised into the Ladderclimber, the Troublemaker, the He-Man and the Homosexual. (Neighbours) The ladderclimber stereotype is based on the public opinion that men are more ambitions. The statistics also show that men prevail in administration positions. The troublemaker is associated with men as being not assertive to male doctors. The He-man label is attached due to greater physical strength of men who are expected to do heavy lifting. However, they use lifting aids the same as female nurses do. (Neighbours) Male nurses are often stigmatised as being homosexual. It is associated with perceptions of male and female roles. People consider ‘woman’s job’ easy to do and they see men performing this kind of job as incompetent and woman-like. If a man acquires feminine traits he is considered to be homosexual. (Neighbours) The homosexual stereotype is imposed usually by men who attribute the same attitude to all men who deviate from standard masculine behaviours and the traditional masculine roles. Rallis (1990 in Larocco, 2007 p.123) in informal survey of the general public found out that men often assume that male nurses are likely to be gay. This concerns other professions which are usually stereotyped as being ‘female.’ To avoid this label many male nurses specialise in more ‘male’ fields like anaethesiology, intensive care, or the Emergency Department which are better paid and have high status. That’s how men try to distance themselves from traditional bedside care and avoid the stigma associated with the nursing profession. For man to be a male nurse one should have a strong sense of self identity to be able to cope with the pressures from outside. (Neighbours) Male nurses to add masculine features to their profession are task oriented rather than people and care oriented. They practice different caring styles when working at the bedside. Lane and Piercy (2003, p.315) highlight that promotion in nursing is impacted by a male stereotype of man possessing qualities of commitment to work and career aspirations while women are more concentrated on caring aspect of nursing job. The common view is that men are “task-focused” while women are too “interpersonally focused.” (Lane and Piercy, 2003 p.316) Owning traditional masculine characteristics is a possibility for a male nurse to get advancement opportunities. If men exhibit feminine traits, they are likely to be discriminated against and disadvantaged. (Neighbours) The attitude of female nurse towards their male counterparts is rather even. They do not marginalise or reject male nurse though they may feel resented when seeing that better paying jobs are taken by men. Fottler (1976 p.102) found out that female nurses have positive attitude toward the male nurses, and sex is ‘generally viewed as an irrelevant consideration in terms of the nursing role.’ However, there is also evidence that employers exhibit favoritism toward the males and advancement of females within the organization is deterred. Male nurses are quicker to achieve managerial posts than women nurses. The study of Davies and Rosser (1986 ) showed that it took men average 8.4 years to reach a Nurse Officer while women needed 17.9 years. (Lane and Piercy, 2003 p.313) This slow career advancement is not about differences in qualifications but difference in attitude towards women in managerial positions. Men were generally preferred to women in higher managerial posts. (Lane and Piercy, 2003 p.320) So even in a female-dominated occupations like nursing patriarchal gender relations play a significant role in representation of men in administrative and elite specialty positions. Males try to separate themselves from female colleagues and feminine image of nursing to elevate their own prestige and power. They are assisted by patriarchal cultural institutions which benefit to male advantage as well as by women nurses themselves who consciously or unconsciously contribute to the careers of men colleagues. (Evans, 1997 p.226) On the other hand male nurses face sex typing daily. Several American hospitals have been permitted to ban men from their maternity wards explaining that some patients feel uncomfortable when looked after by a male nurse. (Neighbours) The stereotyping in nursing profession persists as some people refuse from being cared by men. Everyday evidence suggests that male nurses are rejected by female patients. Elderly women often find it ‘disgraceful and obscene’ to be cared by male general nurses. (Regan, 2006) Men in nursing have to defend their career choice all the time and fight with prejudices of being not only an inferior nurses but inferior men. (Hard time, 2006) In the work of Smith (2006 p.264) participants described at least one incident when a patient refused to be cared by a male nursing student. It particularly concerns obstetric/gynecological (OB/GYN) rotation patients.  Men, however, did not feel offended by the refusal though they felt injustice because they were competent to do the work. The reluctance of women to be cared by men particularly when it concerns intimate treatment and care does suggest that men are viewed as incompetent by patients. Women who refuse from male nurses care base their reasons on the role the nurse performs. They see nurses as an emotional supporter, somebody to understand them and communicate. The other aspect is intimacy issues. The role of female nurse rests ‘on a perceived, shared gendered subjectivity that challenges the dominant patriarchal model of professional development inherent in nursing.’ (Davies 1995 in Allan, 2005 p.176) In the study Larocco (2007 p.125) men engaged in nursing were encouraged by their family and friends to think over other health care careers such as physician, physical therapist, pharmacist, social worker, etc. prior to choosing nursing. However, participants of the survey exhibited resolution to do nursing because it was what they wanted to do while other health care professions were ‘based on prestige, the money and things like that.’ The men busy in nursing report to appreciate the interactive nature of nursing. (Galbraith 1991 p.182) Men polled spoke of nursing as satisfying job which is about helping people which was important when choosing a career. The same reasons for staying in nursing are reported in the works of other researches Boughn (1994), Brown and Stones (1971),Bush (1976); Garvin (1976), Mannino (1963). Another reason to stay in nursing is job security, that’s having a steady job. One more aspect to consider when speaking of male nurses is working environment which is predominately female. Larocco’s study (2007 p.127) showed that men did not dislike working in female work group. Neither had female nurses such objection. Men indicated that their female colleagues viewed them positively and had not professional conflicts inside the work group. Many men considered it an advantage to be a man in female profession. In the research of Smith (2006 p.264) male participants studying nursing agreed that nursing is a female position which involves caring element. At the same time participants mentioned that public opinion is changing and men are viewed more and more of being capable of caring. Recent research suggests that men have as many female attributes as women and are therefore suited to nursing the same way as women. (Fisher, 1999 p.70) Sex-role stereotyping takes root in the ability of humans to construct reality according to certain views and opinions. Occupational segregation is a result of sex-role stereotyping which imbedded in western society. Different jobs are believed to require different competencies which are characteristic only to females or males. Professional stereotyping leads to inaccurate reflection of information about certain occupations and consequently to unfair discrimination of a particular group. Such stereotyping is true for a profession of a male nurse. Nursing has always been generally regarded as a ‘feminine’ occupation. Historical evident suggests that males were long ago engaged in nursing but in 19th century the role of a nurse was viewed as female. Since that time males were deterred from entering nursing school and taking professional engagement in nursing. The number of male registered nurses in the USA is only 5.4 percent of the total RN population. The reasons are evident: social perception of nursing as a female occupation, stereotyping of male nurses as different from other men (being a homosexual, for example), feeling of isolation which men experience in the profession dominated by women. Nevertheless, men entering nursing have their own advantages. They are more likely than women to get quick career advancement. No wonder that there’s a disproportion of men and women introduced in administrative positions in nursing. Besides to avoid labelling male nurses specialise in more ‘male’ fields like anaesthesiology and intensive care, which are better paid and have high status. As numerous surveys show male nurses report nursing as satisfying job which they like and which is important for their career choice. 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