Being male in female-dominant professions: Male preschool teachers' experiences in working life

Occupations are divided into female and male occupations as a result of the specialization of the qualifications sought in the employees to a certain gender. Those who enter non-traditional occupations by gender are exposed to various discriminations in working life. Preschool teaching is a profession that only women had from the Ottoman Empire to the recent history of Turkey. With the change in the conditions of being in the profession, men have also started to enter this field. However, this number is very limited. Male teachers' atypical career choices mean that they violate hegemonic masculinity norms, their masculinity is questioned, and they encounter various prejudices in the profession. Male teachers, who develop various strategies to manage the conflict between hegemonic masculinity and professional identity, have important effects on the transformation of the profession. This study traces the experiences of male preschool teachers in working life with qualitative research method. In this study, which was carried out with a social constructivist perspective and a phenomenological design, thematic analysis of face-to-face interviews with seventeen male teachers working in Eskişehir was conducted. The themes that emerged as a result of the analysis; career choice and reactions, professional identity and masculinity identity, status issue, authority and managing masculinity. Men's entry into pre-school teaching does not de-gendered the profession and their being in this profession triggers the masculine definition and transformation of the profession, not the alternative definition of masculinity.