Here's a link to very interesting New York Times article shared by Allen Ament of Cohort K about the influx of men into previously woman-dominated fields.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/business/increasingly-men-seek-success-in-jobs-dominated-by-women.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
I was struck by two lines in the article:
"More than a few men said their new jobs had turned out to be far harder than they imagined."
And, in a passage about a man who chose to leave a lucrative data consulting job to become a nurse.. "...his starting salary will be about a third what he once earned, but database consulting does not typically earn hugs like the one Mr. Cook recently received from a girl after he took care of her premature baby sister. “It’s like, people get paid for doing this kind of stuff?” Mr. Cook said, choking up as he recounted the episode."
Isn't it fascinating that Mr. Cook's expression of emotional and spiritual satisfaction with his caring work is intertwined with his expression of amazement (and doubt?) about the fact that this work is also paid in material terms?
Will the growing ranks of men in caring professions be natural allies for women seeking to make the economic importance of this work more visible and valuable? Will more equal representation of men and women in caring professions accelerate the cultural shift toward partnership values and raise the status and pay associated with care - as we come to view the work of care without our gender-role blinders on?
What do you think?
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