Gender in Caring Professions

Abstract

In the previous chapter racial divisions and racism as forms of power in nursing, remedial therapies and social work were examined. Interwoven with racial stratification there is also a gender dimension to the divisions of labour which are to be found in all occupations. However, as Thompson (1983) has warned, despite some similarities and significant points of connection we should not regard the issues in these debates as identical. There are discontinuities also between race and gender as aspects of occupational structure and practice. So in this chapter I will examine the gendered nature of caring professions, again looking in turn at their organisation and at their practices.