Social work as gendered issue from a generational point of view

Abstract

Social work is a gendered activity in terms both of its workforce and of the students who enter this profession. In this paper we analyse the underlying dynamics of this phenomenon in the Italian context, according to the characteristics and points of view of different generations of social workers. Data from a 2008 survey of 1000 interviews and 50 in-depth informant interviews are considered. Two multinomial linear models have been included in order to analyse the perceptions of younger and older social workers with regard to social work as ‘female work’ or ‘male work’. The results show that the perception of social work as a matter of gender is stronger among younger social workers, and that the younger generations appear to be less oriented towards equal gender roles. Longer work experience contributes to explaining different gender models. The chronological age of social workers, however, seems to be a less important variable in explaining the differences between generations.

Keywords:

• social work
• students
• generations
• gender roles
• ageing

Notes

1. PRIN – Progretto di ricerca di interesse nazionale [Research Project of National Interest].

2. According to this, the following methodological premise is necessary: the informant witnesses were chosen as co-ordinators, professors of social work degrees, and presidents of regional associations. At the same time, this meant that individuals had longer experience and, consequently, were older. In this way the interviews mainly report the point of view of the older generations, while the younger ones are almost totally excluded.