Sanja Magdalenić

Department of Sociology

Stockholm University

106 91 Stockholm

E-mail: Sanja.Magdalenic@sociology.su.se

Male nurses career advancement: does ethnicity matter?

Abstract

Research on the nursing profession has indicated a general trend that male nurses ascend more quickly in the professional hierarchies. This paper examines whether this pattern is true even for immigrant male nurses. The theoretical framework draws on sociology of the professions and sociology of organizations, with a special focus on the intersection of gender, class and ethnicity. The empirical evidence comes from interviews with immigrant male nurses in Sweden and available statistics about their position within the Swedish nursing profession. Focus is placed on identifying how immigrant male nurses experience their status (in relation to both nurses and doctors), how their perceive their career options and how they deal with structural opportunities and constraints. The paper aims to bring new knowledge to and broaden the discussion about the ways in which gender, class and ethnicity are negotiated within the nursing profession as well between nursing and the medical profession.