"Jag har bara positivt att säga i att ha män på arbetsplatsen" : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om enhetschefers syn på män i hemtjänsten

Sammanfattning: Abstract Author: Madelene Colliander and Malin Götskog Title: “I have only positive things to say in having men at the workplace” – A qualitative interview study of unit managers view of men in home care services Supervisor: Karin Kullberg Assessor: Anna Rypi The aim of our study was that from a gender theory analyze unit managers, in home care services, vision regarding men as home carers. What we among other things wanted to know was if the unit managers felt that the male home carers contributed with anything that the female home carers didn’t. We also wanted to know how the unit managers catered to users' eventual wish es to be cared for specifically of one sex or the other. And we also wanted to know how they felt that more even gender balance, i.e. to get more men, would affect the working group. The study is based on interviews with six unit managers in home care serv ices in southern Sweden (Skåne). The results of our study showed that men are sought after in this female - dominated field. The men are considered to contribute to a better work environment in the working group. The atmosphere is considered to be better and the work out to the users is considered be more focused. The men were also considered to contribute to the profession's status would be raised. However, the study also identified that with men in home care services sometimes encountered dilemmas, this sin ce there are users who absolutely do not want to be helped by male home carers. To accommodate these users the male home carers became replaced by a female home carer. And the times the unit managers could not offer a female home carer the user either had to refuse the help or postpone it to another day. What we therefore have seen in this study is that men are desirable in home care services but also that dilemmas can arise with it.