Maskulinitet inom socialt arbete : Manliga socionomstudenters upplevelse av att studera i en kvinnodominerad utbildning

Studying social work in Sweden is less popular among men than women. Only about one in five applicants who applied to the programme during the autumn of 2018 in Stockholm University were male, showcasing a gender imbalance. Thus, the aim of this study is to research why male social work students applied to the programme, how their environment influenced their choice, and their attitude towards working in a female dominated field. Furthermore, the study has a deductive approach where the two theories, socialization and Connells theory of masculinity, laid the groundwork for the analysis. Nine male students in Stockholm University were divided into two focus group interviews, and their discussions were later analyzed qualitatively. The empirical data was then constructed into four themes which were examined through previous research and the earlier mentioned theories. The results show that the respondents prioritize comfort and safety over status and income when choosing a profession, that they perceive important qualities in a social worker to be empathic yet assertive, that social work in general is viewed as an unclear subject which hinders others from seeing it as a viable career option and that men in social work are desirable in the labour market.