Desperate for more male nurses, teachers and cleaners

Laetitia@Work #57

Hi everyone,

Is feminism only about getting more women into powerful positions? More female CEOs, presidents, ministers, bankers… more women into STEM jobs so tech isn’t built only by (and for) men? I’m sure these are all essential subjects. I have written at length about them. But I’m convinced there’s an even more critical feminist issue that’s been neglected far too much. The fact that the world needs many more men in care and teaching jobs.

We may have seen remarkable progress in equal rights for men and women, but we have to admit that things have not changed much when it comes to caring and teaching. It is only women who look after the young and the elderly, whether at home or in care institutions. Sure there are more women in management positions... but there are still just as few male nannies or nurses and just as few men working part-time to care for a loved one. Care, both private and professional, is still almost exclusively a female thing.

A majority of people work in (quasi) single-sex activities: men in construction, logistics, mechanics or IT; women in the care professions, secretarial and clerical work, teaching... And it’s not changing: over 90% of men in the construction industry, over 90% of women among domestic workers, today and yesterday. 87% of nurses in the US (and pretty much everywhere else too) are women. 95 to 97% of childcare professionals are women. Etc.

Yet when it comes to campaigning for gender diversity and equality, everybody is almost exclusively interested in getting women into 'men's' jobs’: women engineers, women on boards of directors, quotas to increase gender diversity among company directors - and never in getting more men into ‘women's' jobs’ (there’s nothing “natural” about any of it and I’m just looking at the lack of equality as a statistical reality).

Where are the awareness campaigns on that front? Where are the ambitious public policies to push more men into care and teaching jobs? Of course I know it is because “male” jobs are more highly valued. But by neglecting the masculinisation of female jobs, are we not maintaining the devaluation of care, teaching and cleaning jobs? Are we never getting out of this historical dichotomy between "male" productive work (considered noble and valuable) and female "reproductive" work (free or underpaid and of no interest to anyone)? Why should we take it for granted and immutable that “female” jobs are worthless and therefore there’s no point in pushing men to do them?

Female jobs are the jobs of the future, provided we invest in them! It is crucial we make their masculinisation a major issue of political and cultural action. Our very future depends on it.👇💡

What if the shortage of workers was a shortage of men?

Among the professions where shortages are most acute, women's professions are in the lead. Hundreds of thousands of nannies, teachers, school assistants and nurses are already lacking. Tomorrow, with the ageing of the population and the increase in the need for care, there could be several million workers missing! Domestic workers are also too few. The shortage of nannies is damaging. A shortage of carers is putting many hospitals on the brink of collapse. The same is true of schools.

An increasing chunk of tasks performed by white collar workers (analysing data, coding, accounting, writing text) can now be performed by AI. By contrast, the jobs of care, cleaning and personal services do not yet seem to be much affected by AI and robotics. Sure machines can help carers, but not yet replace them. As a result, care in the broadest sense is likely to concentrate most of the jobs of the future. When most people think of "jobs of the future", they think of "technology" and "jobs we don't know yet". But really in terms of sheer volume, it is well-known occupations (nurse, childminder, doctor, hairdresser, home help, etc.) that have the brightest future.

Of boys and men in the future

If a lot of today’s jobs are really going to be transformed, commodified and/or replaced by AI as industrial jobs were by robotics in the 20th century, then what are these workers going to do? There’s a case to be made for helping a lot of people (including men) switching to care jobs. 

In a book published in 2022 in the US, Of Boys and Men, Brookings Institute researcher Richard Reeves speaks of a "crisis of boys and men". According to him, while women have gradually entered the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professions, men have made almost no inroads into the HEAL (health, education, administration and literacy) professions. He believes it is essential to seek to increase the share of men in HEAL jobs (great acronym, right?)

HEAL sectors are where the jobs are coming from. To improve men’s employment prospects, we need to get more of them into these kinds of jobs. By my calculations, for every new STEM job created by 2030, there will be more than three new HEAL jobs. To accomplish that, we need to build a pipeline in the education system, provide financial incentives and reduce the social stigma faced by men working in fields like nursing and early childhood education. (Reeves)

Promoting a positive view of masculinity

It is worrying that many people spontaneously associate the word “toxic” to “masculinity”. When you look at media dramas, news stories about sexual predators (like Weinstein) and the systemic economic violence of which so many women are the victims, there is not much room left in our imagination for a benevolent masculinity that involves sensitivity, openness, empathy and care. In fact all the loving fathers, male carers and caregivers are constantly made invisible. 

Something is rotten in the state of manhood. Guilty of the crime of patriarchy, it is also tainted by toxic masculinity, the belief that most social ills – everything from murder and rape to online abuse – stem from men being men. Not only are men seen as (and too often are) violent and dangerous, in advanced economies men are three times more likely than women to take their own lives. (The Guardian)

Worse, the tragic cases of paedophilia in the Catholic Church, which have gradually (and fortunately) come to light in recent years, have contributed to further fuelling a sort of taboo around male childcare. It is as if there is less acceptance of the very idea of a man caring for children who are not his own. Stereotypes that men are not 'naturally' good at it are longstanding. As a result, the few men who do perform these professional activities are in a situation of transgressing dominant norms and may face forms of stigmatisation.

In his book, Reeves writes he wishes boys had more role models in HEAL professions. When they grow up without a male caring role model in nursery and kindergarten, they do not learn to associate care with men. They understand it’s not for them. But that’s not all: a greater presence of men in professional care would also provide role models in the private sphere. Even today, domestic and parental tasks in the home remain unevenly shared:  about two-thirds of these tasks are still carried out by women.

Valuing what really matters

There is no symmetry between minority men in women's worlds and the other way around. In male worlds, minority women suffer from not being taken seriously enough. Their legitimacy is questioned. They are sometimes harassed. And they suffer from the glass ceiling. On the other hand, men in female environments generally benefit from a phenomenon known as the 'glass escalator'. They are promoted, valued and paid more than their female colleagues. They may be perceived as more competent, deserving or courageous simply because they have chosen to work in an environment where they are a minority. They may also receive preferential treatment from their colleagues. In short, their minority position works in their favour. (This is reminiscent of the double standard in parenting: fathers are praised for changing their offspring's nappies, but mothers are not).

The term "glass escalator" was introduced by Christine L. Williams in her article "The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the "Female" Professions" published in August 1992. The glass escalator refers to the way men, namely heterosexual white men, are put on a fast track to advanced positions when entering primarily female-dominated professions. It is most present in "pink collar" professions, such as those in hands-on healthcare work or school teaching. (Wikipedia)

The rare professional fields which, like the computer world, have become more masculine over time, have seen their relative prestige increase, as have the salaries associated with them. In contrast, the feminisation of a profession is correlated with a fall in its symbolic and financial value: teachers and general practitioners have paid a high price. When you look at this tragic correlation, you can see that men play a big part in a job’s valuation. More men are needed to negotiate better pay, to improve the way a profession is viewed and to fight for better working conditions.

The devaluation of "reproductive" work - caring for children and the sick, supporting, accompanying, teaching - is tragic. These activities are presented as "burdens" when in fact they support society and the economy as a whole. Without them, no one can be "productive"! Their revaluation is a major issue for the future of work. Moreover, while "productive" activities often generate negative externalities for the environment, "reproductive" activities are much less toxic. Our planet and everybody living on it need men to turn to care more.

⚡ I’m very happy to do a Salon talk with Interintellect on April 9. Interintellect is the platform that’s “reinvented the art of the French salon for the 21st century”. The title of the salon: What Does It Mean To Be a Mother Today? Defining Motherhood in Today’s Age. On Sunday April 9 at 12:00pm-1:30pm EDT / 5pm-6:30pm CET, join host Crystal Duan for an intimate talk with me discussing how we see childcare in today’s global society 👉 Whether you’re a parent or not, the definition of “motherhood” affects us all in a time where our work infrastructure and existential preoccupations around marriage and nuclear families is shifting. In the midst of this complex time, this salon conversation brought to the Interintellect community will center on how we look at self-sacrifice, childcare, feminism, the declining birthrate globally, and how we can work toward a better tomorrow!

🎥 Samuel Durand's documentary "Time to Work" (Work in Progress - Documentary) is his 3rd documentary that I have the immense joy of participating in. Its trailer is now online! 🔥 It asks the most fundamental questions about work. The 'linear' time of the assembly line in the factory (clocking in and out) is no longer the reality of work for most people (whether they work behind a computer or in care jobs).

🎤 I've been a guest on Delphine Zanelli’s podcast, L’entreprise de demain (in French) 🎧 : Saison 5 - Emploi des séniors et reforme du travail - #1 - Laetitia Vitaud : Qu'est ce qui se joue derrière la question de l'emploi des seniors ?

💡Check out the last articles I wrote for Welcome to the Jungle:

• « Faire preuve de pédagogie » : quand le paternalisme s’invite (encore) en entreprise (in French)

• « Les vrais mecs sont ceux qui iront dans les métiers de meufs » (in French)

• Langue de bois en entretien : 6 phrases à éviter à tout prix (in French)

🎙️ The latest episode of Nouveau Départ is titled La naissance sous toutes les coutures (with Agnès Gepner) 🎧 (in 🇫🇷)

Miscellaneous

💣 Prepare for the Textpocalypse, Matthew Kirschenbaum, The Atlantic, March 2023: “What if, in the end, we are done in not by intercontinental ballistic missiles or climate change, not by microscopic pathogens or a mountain-size meteor, but by … text? Simple, plain, unadorned text, but in quantities so immense as to be all but unimaginable—a tsunami of text swept into a self-perpetuating cataract of content that makes it functionally impossible to reliably communicate in any digital setting?”

🤔 Imagine What These Women Could’ve Done if They’d Had Wives, Jessica Grose, The New York Times, February 2023: “Mothers across many countries are still hampered by what economists call the “sticky floor” of gender norms, including “the expectation that women shoulder a greater share of child care and household tasks than men,” according to a 2021 working paper from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.”

🚗 A 120-Year-Old Company Is Leaving Tesla in the Dust, The New York Times, Ezra Dyer, March 2023: “Tesla’s veneer of irreverence conceals an inflexible core, an old-fashioned corporate autocracy. Consider Tesla’s remote work policy, or lack thereof. Last year, Mr. Musk issued a decree that Tesla employees log 40 hours per week in an office — and not a home office — if they expected to keep their jobs. On Indeed.com, the question, “Can you work remotely at Tesla?” includes answers like, “No,” and “Absolutely not, they won’t let it happen under any circumstances,” and “No, Tesla will work you until you lose everything.”But on the other hand, the cars make fart noises. What a zany and carefree company!”

Take care! (double entendre) 🤗