Care-givers and Risk-takers

As we study gender in the workplace, I cannot help but reflect on my experiences in the workforce.  Because the careers I am pursuing all work towards social justice, positions I have held often involved direct service.  Most recently, I interned at a shelter for adult men experiencing homelessness.  In addition to the drop-in shelter, there is a transitional housing program for formerly homeless individuals.  The idea is that men staying in the shelter move their way up to higher levels of independent living.  The shelter and housing programs work in tandem to facilitate that upward mobility.  However, there are many divisions between the two departments, one of which is gender.

Care-givers

Shelter employees’ jobs are assumed to be more risky and less skilled; consequently, the shelter staff is paid hourly wages.  They conduct bag searches, intoxication screenings, and overnight security supervision.  Housing employees, on the other hand, conduct individualized care-taking tasks, plan therapeutic community-building activities, and work daytime hours.  Their jobs are considered lower-risk and professional positions; thus, the housing staff is paid by salaries.  Shelter staff duties emphasize rule enforcement and procedure while those of the housing staff emphasize relationship-building and empowerment, even though each program requires both facets.

Risk-takers

Significantly, there is a distinct difference in the demographics of the two staffs.  The shelter staff is entirely composed of men, with the exception of one female supervisor (salaried), while the housing staff is entirely composed of women, with the exception of one man who works the desk (for hourly wages).  Therefore, the women receive salaries while the men work for hourly wages.  Additionally, the women work in official care-taking positions while the men work in supposedly high-risk environments.  Both of these patterns align with gendered stereotypes, despite their material inaccuracies.  In reality, a key part of working in the shelter is building meaningful relationships with the guests, and the housing employees take many risks in serving their residents.  Both jobs require skills, competence, risks, and care giving.  However, those realities do not permeate the perceptions, and the staffing continues along the perceived divide.

Which came first?

As I consider these differences, I wonder:  which came first – the perceptions or the staff?  My position involved nightly outreach in the drop-in shelter, and the staff expressed concern for me – the only female in a room of over 170 adult men – despite the fact that no incident ever occurred and I never felt unsafe or threatened.  Based on the reactions I got when I explained my work to others, I wonder if more women aren't employed in the shelter because they were seen as being vulnerable.  Did more men apply for the seemingly riskier positions, or were more men hired for the seemingly riskier positions?  Finally, how would Joan Williams’ concept of Reconstructive Feminism impact this work environment?  Women are already earning more than men, but they are still confined to care-taking roles while men are limited to risk-taking roles.  How can we find a balance?