ABSTRACT

The contribution addresses boys and men as professional caregivers and reflects upon teaching gender awareness and overcoming binary codes in care professions, employment hierarchies and at the labor market.

It discusses possibilities to broaden images of non-hegemonic masculinities and open up non-traditional career choices, especially for boys in vocational education. It critically examines teaching material (textbooks), including vocational education in six European countries in the problematic context of highly segregated labor markets and gender stereotyping in vocational education. Moreover, the contribution focuses on practical applications such as concrete teaching methods and class assignments which have been proven to be helpful to promote caring masculinities among boys and young men in the context of vocational education.

The chapter will illustrate how to translate masculinities theory into critical-reflective and gender-sensitive learning environments. It addresses teachers and practitioners involved with vocational training of adolescents as well as university students, researchers, activists, and interested public in strategies to overcome gender segregation in the labor market and fostering caring masculinities in our societies.