A Man's Work in a Female World? Gender Paradoxes of Male Childcare Workers

Abstract

The analytical focus of this article is on everyday occupational life of male teachers in German pre-schools and male care workers in childcare centers. In light of the minority status of men in this occupation, attention is paid particularly to tensions experienced by male care workers and how these tensions are dealt with in relation to identity formation. Are male childcare workers the prototypical "new men," with implications for de-gendering and professionalising care work? Or are male childcare workers faced with the same structural disadvantages of female occupations, in addition experiencing contradictions in relation to their masculinity? In order to address these questions, the actions and experiences of male childcare workers are examined in relation to work colleagues, parents and the children with whom they interact on a daily basis as part of their work practice.