In recent years, initiatives have been taken to attract more men into caring occupations. However,
there has been much less focus on retaining these new male workers. This article builds on
qualitative interviews with 11 Danish men who after working in the caring sector decided to leave
for other occupations. A factor often presented as influential for the men?s exit concerns the social
working environment. In the interviews, the men discuss the pressure to assimilate to the existing
and established female-dominated culture. They feel excluded and socially isolated. Several of them
have been directly criticized or disqualified as not being ?real? men by their female colleagues. As
a result of a growing bureaucratic demand for control and registration of work procedures, several
men feel that they do not have adequate resources and time to provide the level of care that
is needed. They become disillusioned and frustrated and choose to seek employment elsewhere.
Some men cannot come to terms with close physical contact and ?smells,? for example, changing
diapers on infants or bathing old people. They cannot handle the thought of having their intentions
misinterpreted, for example, when playing and being physical with children, and being potentially
seen as sexually abhorrent. Finally, some men never intended to remain permanently in caring
occupations. Their exit is driven by an ambition to pursue a career in another field or at what they
view as a more challenging career level.
Author Biography
Kenn Warming, Equality Department, The Danish Institute for Human Rights