Is it more difficult for men to obtain female dominated jobs?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Jobs such as:

Bookkeeper
Secretary
Licensed practical/vocational nurse
Billing and posting clerks

Around 80% or more of these jobs are occupied by women, and I was wondering would a man(who is not feminine) be less likely to obtain these jobs if he tried?

It seems to me that the reason most office and nursing jobs are filled by women is because people find women to be more pleasant to interact with rather then a man, am I wrong?

2

I don’t think it makes any difference. Know that they tend to be lower paid. For a long time women were only allowed to be in certain kind (my dad told me I could be a secretary or a teacher, although I guess he would have added bookkeeper or nurse if he’d thought of it). It seems like history to young people, but it wasn’t to a lot of today’s parents! Few men applied, partly because the pay was low (they were “women’s jobs”, and not meant to support a family in the thinking of the time). It is changing, but fewer men still apply.

3

I’m seeing more males in nursing, RN specifically. I can’t help but think its because the pay scale seems to have improved.

4

On the flip side, [url=http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2015/06/men_in_female_dominated_fields_they_still_make_more_than_women.html]here[/url] is an article that says men in female-dominated fields are paid more and perceived as more competent than women in the same fields (although the gap is less than that between men and women in male-dominated fields).

Well, yeah, the underlying reason almost certainly has to do with gender stereotypes. On the surface, those jobs are filled by women because women are more likely to obtain the necessary education and then submit job applications. It’s not like men are applying and then being rejected because of their gender.

5

@halcyonheather

The reason men are usually paid more in female dominated fields is because men usually work more hours then women.

That’s also the reason men move up to management more, more hours=more likely to get promoted.

6

@gizmojc I assume you’re not serious, but just to be certain…

  1. Men and women tend to put in the same amount of effort and produce the same types of results.
  2. More hours <> more likely to be promoted; higher productivity = more likely to be promoted.
7

To OP, a close male family member of mine works in a pediatric hospital as a nurse and did not have any troubles being accepted beyond what is normally expected in an interview for that position. Obviously it depends on the situation/hospital but for the most part many employers still seek men in nursing as well as women!