QUALITATIVE RESEARCH STUDY

JENNA BABCOCK, CHRIS GUTIERREZ, LAUREN HOPPE, EMILY MATTHEWS

A Phenomenological Study - A Look Into Why Male Students of TUN OT 2015 Chose a Predominantly Female Career Path

Introduction
History The purpose of this study was to identify why males would choose a career field like OT that is characteristically predominated by females and what they believe they have to offer this field

(Darden, 2010)

Research Questions
1. What are the main reasons males choose OT as a career? 2. Do males think they will perform better than a female would as an OT? 3. What advantages do you think male OTs have and how might their gender help the field of OT? 4. How well do males work with females in a nontraditional career field such as OT?

Review of Related Literature

More male occupational therapists are needed to provide male role models for clients Provide a balance between male and female views in the profession Provide activities of daily living for male clients, and to help with physically hard to manage clients

(Darden, 2010)

Role of Researcher
Study was conducted to better understand the reason for males choosing to go into this career field Studies on this subject also reflected that 90% of Occupational Therapists in the United States were female, leaving less than 10% of male Occupational Therapists

(Hocevar, 2013)

Design of Study
A focus group was used to interview a convenience sample of 9 male students enrolled in the Touro University Occupational Therapy class of 2015 Six open-ended questions were presented to the group by one female interviewer Three female transcribers recorded the responses to the questions provided by focus group members

The interviewer asked one question at a time to the group and encouraged all group members to participate in providing answers

Questions asked
1. What made you choose a career field that was predominantly made up of women? 2. Do you work better with females or males? Why? 3. Do you think your gender will help in the occupational therapy field? Why? 4. What influenced you to become an occupational therapist? 5. Were you intimidated to become involved in a career predominated by females? 6. When you chose the field of OT, where you belittled by your friends, family, etc. 7. In what ways do you think you can be a better OT than a female?

Data Collection

Semi-structured focus group by three note takers and an interviewer Data collected at Touro University Nevada in the occupational therapy department learning skills lab classroom Notes transcribed from the interview 45 minutes to collect data 2 hours and 15 minutes to transcribed the data Member checking was used to ensure accuracy of the data

Findings/Themes
Male occupational therapists working better with male clients in physical settings Choosing the field of occupational therapy for different reasons Community and family support for men entering female dominated career path Males contributing their different strengths to the field of OT

Limitations
Using a focus group Individual interviews Questionnaire Others speaking for them Interviewer & transcribers all female Setting Not private Other females from the class around Lack of interest and attention Desire to work on other projects Triangulation

 Males who chose a career in occupational therapy chose it because of the job itself and were not turned off by the Conclusions overwhelming amount of females in the field Personal passion for the job and were not discouraged by the stereotypical woman's job Health Care system men and women have different strengths that can make any career more well rounded

Recommendations
No focus groups One-on-one interviews that include males Questionnaire Ask questions that do not challenge their manhood

References
Darden, Jenee. (2010). National Public Radio; Wanted: Men for Occupational Therapy Jobs. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122970930. Hocevar, Robin (2013). The Male Minority. Retrieved from: http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/The-Male-Minority.aspx. Lemkau, J.P. (1981). Increasing occupational role innovation: Intervention implications of two survey studies. Paper presented at the 89th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.

Questions???