Women's work? : an exploration of the lack of male interest in the field of professional psychology in South Africa.
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This research explored the possible reasons for the lack of males in professional psychology \nin the South African context, by examining the reasons why second and third year, male \npsychology students decide not to enter postgraduate studies in psychology. A mixed \nmethods research design was employed. The quantitative aspect consisted of the \nadministration of a questionnaire including the Male Attitude Norms Inventory-II (MANI-II), \na questionnaire measuring levels of hegemonic masculinity, to test for the degree to which \nhegemonic masculinity may influence the decision to pursue or not to pursue postgraduate \nstudies in psychology. The qualitative aspect involved semi-structured, one-on-one \ninterviews with second and third year undergraduate, male, psychology students who \nspecified that they did not intend on pursuing postgraduate studies in psychology. This aspect \nof the research was designed to determine the possible reasons for the decision not to pursue \npostgraduate studies in psychology, as well as to assess the degree to which masculinity \naffects this decision. Quantitative results showed that there was not a significant difference on \nthe MANI-II between groups (although certain individual items did show significant results). \nThe results of the qualitative interviews showed that many issues were potentially \ncontributing to distorted and negative views of professional psychology, although a major \nfinding was that the participants viewed their masculinity as being incompatible with the \nrequirements of professional psychology and that professional psychology would be an \nunfulfilling career. Recommendations included greater education on the reality of the work \ninvolved in professional psychology as well as possibly increasing the exposure of \nundergraduate males to postgraduate and professional male psychologists as well as greater \nconsultation to improve the media‟s representation to reflect the realities of psychological \npractice
Author: Robert Williams
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W170875715