This master thesis researched how social pedagogues experience their gender identity and the negative and positive sides of masculinities in social pedagogical professions. Feminist studies and gender studies throughout history have largely focused on developing theories around gender binary and the development of women’s gender identity. Following the second wave of feminism in the 1970s, there have been developments that question men's gender identity which resulted in critical studies of men and masculinities. Masculinity was understood as multi-layered and manifold and a concept of hegemonic masculinity was developed. It describes a type of most desirable form of masculinity in a certain society and time and it is shaped in relation to other masculinities and women. Furthermore, gender order also influences labour relations. Care work has been for centuries understood as women's work. In social pedagogy, like in many care professions, women greatly outnumber men. This research is qualitative, half structured interviews were used for gathering data. Questions were focused on understanding why men enter the social pedagogical profession, whether they experience any advantages or disadvantages due to their gender identity and how they experience their masculinity. The analysis has shown that social pedagogues try to differentiate their work from their female colleagues, they take on a more stereotypical male role and experience many benefits. Their experiences differ based on their idea of masculinity – men run into more problems if they can't lean onto their »male« characteristics such as physical strength.
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