Nursing

Abstract

As I discussed in Chapter 3, nursing is a particularly feminised occupation, it is feminised both numerically and culturally. For this reason the majority of the nurses I spoke with identified as female and much of my discussion in this chapter pertains to women’s experiences. In particular, the occupational choice process seems to follow a similar pattern for many of the female nurses I spoke with, a pattern that contrasted with the occupational choice experiences of the male nurses I spoke with. For many of the female nurses, irrespective of their class background, this occupational choice fulfilled social expectations, a desire to participate in caring activities, or was made under the threat of some kind of social sanction. So I would like to start this chapter by discussing how, for women, the choice to pursue nursing often falls in line with, and reaffirms, the gendered doxic order — how ‘doing nursing’ is ‘doing femininity’. The second part of the chapter will look at the role of class in nurse’s career choices and how motivations to enter the occupation appear to not only be different for men and women but also for working-class women and middle-class women. In the final section I will look at the role of gender capital in workers’ entrance into and movement within this occupation and discuss women’s and men’s experiences of femininity as a limited asset.