ABSTRACT
Internationally, researchers have afforded considerable attention to considering questions mobilizing around young people and service sector employment. After contextualizing the study within the appropriate literature, this chapter briefly discusses the research methods and context. It focuses on the interaction of service work and masculine identity. As service sector jobs are often considered to be at odds with traditional modes of masculinity, the chapter details how this interaction plays out in the retail work place and problematizes the understanding that men have an inherent disregard for service work. The retail sector accounts for more than 11 per cent of the United Kingdom's (UK) workforce, just under 3 million people. More than half of the retail workforce is based in lower-level sales and customer service related roles, with another 18 per cent classified as elementary or administrative roles.
