Man är bättre? : - En kvalitativ studie om manliga socialsekreterare i minoritet

During the emergence of social work, women have been considered to hold greater competence in social relations. Approximately 80% of social workers in Sweden are women, which leaves men in a minority. Men are considered to have advantages in female-dominated professions because of their unique and desirable abilities. This paper aims to adress men's underpresentation in the female-dominated social work profession. The purpose is to explore the attitudes and experiences of men working in a minority group. Using a qualitative approach, six male social workers have been interviewed. It is of considerable interest to examine if notions of gender affect them in their daily work, and their perception of disadvantages contrary possibilities. The findings of this paper both confirm and contradict the previous research. Both similar and different attitudes and experiences revealed that there are several aspects to consider of being a man in minority. It became clear that all respondents felt that they have got advantages in the profession as a result of being men. The disadvantages that emerged were not as many as the benefits, but it was clear that they developed from the expectations of men as qualitatively different than women