Make a difference by being the difference : A study of the importance of the social networks for some young males´ gender-breaking higher education choices

Several studies shows that the dominant norms of masculinity are a hinder for boys to perform in school and a hinder for men to choose female-dominated occupations. Moreover, selecting a career can be a complex decision for young adult men´s to choose a female-dominated higher education - and this dilemma has been a topic of much reports and research. However, there is still a lack of understanding regarding the influence of social capital on young people as they transition to higher education. Not many studies have been made on the male student´s experience of the impact of social capital on their gender-breaking higher education choices.Therefore the aim of this study is to understand which social capital and social network relations are of importance to young male students´ gender-breaking higher education choices. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the conditions that have broadened the informants' motive to choose a higher education.A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used to answer the purpose of this essay and the method of choice for analysis were social networks analysis of ego-net, which is a method on studying social relations. The result is being analyzed by using a conceptional model based on Lent el. al (1994) Social Cognitive Careers Theory, Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) Theory of social capital and Ego-net (Crossley et. al 2015).The results of this study show that social background and gender have a limited significance in relation to the informants' gender-breaking choice of higher education and career path. There are various motives that have encouraged and motivated the informants' gender-breaking choices. Three different motives appears that has affected their gender-breaking educational and professional choices; (I) Making a difference (II) Security in working-life and (III) Skills and knowledge seeking. These motives challenge notions of gender as well as other aspects of an “ideal” job and career for men.The study concludes that the informants' gender-breaking higher education choices have been preceded by a process of different types of events in the transition to working life, as well as connections and networking with other individuals in the adult life who have influenced their career and decision-making. It is found that social capital and heterogeneous network has a significant role for the informant’ gender-breaking education and careers choices - e.g. male role models, inspirers such as professionals in primay and secondary education and colleagues in the world of work, who have contributed to changing their stereotypical notions of female-dominated professions, new preferences and altruistic goals such as helping others, themselves and their future