Taking a stand against normative biography – a biographical perspective on learning careers and professional identity development of male social workers

• Authors: Mažeikienė Natalija , Dorelaitienė Agnė
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The paper discusses transformation of professional identity of individuals who have chosen work activity that is not traditional for their gender. Participants of our research are male social workers in Lithuania. The study on change of professional identity of male social workers presented in this article has revealed that the process of becoming a social worker among males is a sequence of complex decisions and experiences accompanied by critical incidents and changes in their life trajectories and learning careers. Trajectories of educational experience and life events of the research participants have revealed the choice in favour of non-traditional occupation as a defeat of traditional gender division of labour by opposing to “normality” – by undergoing and overcoming the crisis. One of interesting aspects of analysis is the issue of experiences occurring in the course of deviation from standardized, predetermined and preset life journey, i.e. normative biography. Such a complexity is caused by ideal norms of hegemonic masculinity that frame actual social structures and are introduced into the processes of socialization and habituation with the aim to form dominant masculine habitus. Analysis of biographical narratives of male social workers have disclosed learning careers and at the same time the balancing of the males between the normative trajectory of masculine behaviour and striving to find their own “self ”.

Keywords

EN

biographical narrative; male social workers; gender division of labour; professional identity; gender socialisation; traditional gender roles

• Publisher: Wyższa Szkoła Gospodarki Euroregionalnej im. Alcide De Gasperi w Józefowie
• Journal: Journal of Modern Science
• Year: 2016
• Issue: 3(30)
• Pages: 81-99

Dates

published

2016

Contributors

author

Mažeikienė Natalija

• Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

author

Dorelaitienė Agnė

• Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

References

• Alheit, P. (2003). ‚Biographizität‘ als Schlüsselqualifikation. Plädoyer für transitorische Bildungsprozesse. In: ABWF/QUEM (Hrsg.), Weiterlernen – neu gedacht. Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse. QUEM-report. Schriften zur beruflichen Weiterbildung,
• Heft 78, Berlin, p. 7–22, http://www.abwf.de/content/main/publik/report/2003/ Report-78.pdf.
• Alheit, P., Dausien, B. (2009). Lifelong Learning and Biography: A Competitive Dynamic Between the Macro- and the Micro Level of Education. In: L. West, P. Alheit,
• A.S. Andersen, B. Merrill (eds.), Using Biographical and Life History Approaches in the Study of Adult and Life Learning: European Perspectives, Peter Lang, p. 57–70.
• Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine Domination, Polity Press. ISBN 0-8047-3818-1.
• Christie, A. (2006). Negotiating the Uncomfortable Intersections Between Gender and Professional Identities in Social Work, „Critical Social Policy” 26(2), p. 390–411.
• Connel, R.W. (2005). Masculinities, University of California Press. ISBN 0-520- -08999-5.
• Connel, R.W., Messerschmidt, J.W. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept, „Gender and Society”, vol. 19, No. 6, p. 829–859.
• Doray, P., Belanger, P. (2002). Changing Working Conditions, Lifelong Learning and Biography in a New Economy, http://www.wallnetwork.ca/research/doraybelanger5pagerp.pdf.
• Dumais, A.A. (2002). Cultural Capital, Gender, and School Success: The Role of Habitus, „Sociology of Education”, vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), p. 44–68.
• Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford University Press.
• Larsson, S., Sjöblom, Y. (2010). Perspectives on narrative methods in social work research, „International Journal of Social Welfare” 19, p. 272–280.
• McLeod, J. (2005). Feminists re-reading Bourdieu. Old debates and new questions about gender habitus and gender change, „Theory and Research in Education”, vol. 3(1), p. 11–30.
• Murard, N. (2002). Guilty victims: social exclusion in contemporary France. In: P. Chamberlayne, M. Rustin, T. Wengraf (eds.), Biography and social exclusion in Europe: Experiences and life journeys, p. 41–60.
• Ollagnier, E. (2007). Challenging gender with life history. In: L. West, P. Alheit, A.S. Andersen, B. Merrill (eds.), Using Biographical and Life History Approaches in the Study of Adult and Life Learning: European Perspectives. Peter Lang,
• Riessman, C.K., Quinney, L. (2005). Narrative in social work: A critical review, „Qualitative Social Work” 4(4), p. 383–404.
• Rustin, M., Chamberlayne, P. (2002). Introduction: from biography to social policy. In: P. Chamberlayne, M. Rustin, T. Wengraf (eds.), Biography and social exclusion in Europe: Experiences and life journeys, p. 1–23.
• Strootbants, V., Wildemeersch, D. (2000). Work? I have learned to live with it: a biographical perspective on work, learning and living... more than just a story. Proceedings of the 41st Annual Adult Education Research Conference, The right quest/ ions: Research/ing in a new century, T.J. Sork, V. and St. Chapman, R. Clair (eds.), p. 443–447. Vancouver: The University of British Columbia.
• Tereškinas, A. (2011). Vyrų pasaulis: vyrai ir žaizdos vyriškumas Lietuvoje. Vilnius: Baltos lankos.
• West, L. (2011). Adult Learning in a Biographical Perspective. In: K. Rubenson (ed.), Adult learning and education, Elsevier, p. 60–65.

Identifiers

ISSN

1734-2031