New Occupation Choices for Men男性的新职业选择

“I didn’t know that men could be doctors，” my son said to me when he was about six. We were driving home from a visit to the pediatrician. I was perplexed. But then I realized that the doctor we’d just seen was the first male physician he’d encountered.

在我儿子大约六岁时，有一次我带他看完儿科医生，在开车回家的路上，他忽然对我说：“我不知道原来男人还可以当医生啊。”他的话让我一下子感到茫然，然后我才意识到，我们刚刚看的医生是他遇到的第一个男医生。

I reassured him that men could indeed be doctors. But I was careful to add， “and nurses， of course.” His observation was a powerful reminder of the feminist mantra： “you have to see it to be it.” If any particular activity， including a job， is seen as being for people of the opposite sex， it is unlikely to feature in your own aspirations.

我向他保证，男人确实可以当医生，而且我还特别注意加了一句：“当然，男人还可以当护士。”他这个小发现让我强烈地想起一句女权主义者奉为圭臬的话：“你必须看见它，才能成为它。”如果某种活动（包括职业）被认为是异性的专利，那么它就不可能成为你的理想。

My son’s elementary school had an all-female staff， so it took a while to convince him that men could be teachers， too. Role models matter. As Gloria Steinem said in 1995， “The way we get divided into our false notions of masculine and feminine is what we see as children.”

在我儿子就读的小学，所有教职工都是女性，我花了好长时间才让他相信男人也可以当老师。榜样是非常重要的，正如格洛丽亚·斯泰纳姆在1995年所说，“我们对男女性别壁垒的错误观念，正是源自我们儿时所见”。

In recent decades， huge progress has been made in smashing the gender stereotypes associated with many traditionally male jobs， including science， medicine， engineering， law， and even the military. When the original Perry Mason series aired in 1966， just 4 percent of law students were female. By the time of HBO’s new version in summer 2020， there were as many women in law school as men. Terms like “female lawyer” and “female doctor” already sound antiquated.

近几十年来，科学、医学、工程、法律，甚至军事等领域里许多历来被视为男性专属的职业，在破除性别刻板印象方面已经取得巨大进步。1966年老版《梅森探案集》播出时，法律专业学生只有4%是女性。到2020年夏天HBO电视网出品的新版《梅森探案集》播出时，法学院的男女学生数量已经大致相当了。诸如“女律师”和“女医生”这样的说法已经过时了。

Similar trends can be seen in other formerly male-dominated fields. In 1980， women accounted for just 13% of jobs in the STEM field （science， technology， engineering and math）; the share has now more than doubled， to 27%. Progress has been especially slow in the tech world.

其他曾经由男性主导的行业也出现了类似的趋势。1980年，在STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）行业，女性仅占13%，现在这一比例已经翻了一番多，达到27%。科技行业打破性别壁垒的进展尤其缓慢。

But the same is not true in the other direction. Traditionally female occupations， especially in what I call the HEAL fields—in health， education， administration and literacy—have， if anything， become even more “pink collar.” Just 26% of HEAL jobs are held by men， down from 35% in 1980. The gender desegregation of the labor market has so far been almost entirely one-way. Women are doing “men’s jobs.” Men are not doing “women’s jobs.”

但另一方向的情况并非如此。历来被视为女性专属的职业，尤其在我所说的HEAL（医疗、教育、行政和文秘）行业，如果说有什么变化的话，那就是变得更加“粉领”。HEAL行业的男性比例从1980年的35%下降到26%。迄今为止，劳动力市场性别隔离的废除几乎完全是单向的：女性在做“男性的工作”，但男性不做“女性的工作”。

In some occupations， the decline in the male share has been dramatic. The proportion of men in psychology， for example， has dropped from 39% to 29% in the last decade. Fewer than one in five social workers are men （18%）， half the proportion in 1980.

某些职业的男性比例已经出现大幅下滑。例如，在过去10年，从事心理学工作的男性比例已从39%下降至29%。男性社工的比例还不到1/5（18%），只有1980年的一半。

Men account for just 24% of K-12 teachers， down from 33% in the early 1980s. Only one in ten elementary school teachers are male. In early education， men are virtually invisible. It ought to be a source of national shame that only 3% of pre-K and kindergarten teachers are men. There are twice as many women flying U.S. military planes as there are men teaching kindergarten （as a share of the occupation）.

在K-12教师中，男性的比例从20世纪80年代初的33%下降至如今的24%。只有1/10的小学教师是男性，早教领域则几乎看不到男性的身影。学前班和幼儿园的男性教师居然只占3%，国家真应该引以为耻。按职业比例来看，驾驶美国军机的女飞行员是幼儿园男教师的两倍。

There are three pressing reasons to get more men into HEAL. First， given the decline in traditional male occupations， men need to look to these sectors for jobs. Blue collar jobs are disappearing. There will be more STEM jobs， too—but these are much smaller occupations. STEM accounts for only about 7% of all jobs， compared to 23% in HEAL. For every STEM job created between now and 2030， there will be three new jobs in HEAL. The labor market is feminizing faster than men.

让更多男性从事HEAL行业，有三个刻不容缓的理由。首先，传统的男性专属职业在减少，男性要到HEAL行业找工作。蓝领工作岗位正在逐渐消失。虽然也会有更多STEM行业的工作岗位，但这些工作所占比重小得多。STEM行业的工作岗位仅占所有职业的7%，而HEAL行业的工作岗位则占23%。现在到2030年，STEM岗位每新增一个，HEAL岗位会增加三个。劳动力市场正在迅速“女性化”，但男性尚未跟上这个趋势。

It is true that some HEAL jobs do not pay that well， while most STEM jobs do. Medical assistants， for example， make around $38，000 a year. But many traditional male jobs are not highly paid either： construction workers and bus and taxi drivers both make around the same as medical assistants. And there are also plenty of HEAL jobs that offer good pay and benefits， including nurse practitioners （$100，000）， medical and health services managers （$71，000）， education and childcare administrators （$70，000）， and occupational therapists1 （$72，000）.

的确，尽管大多数STEM工作薪资丰厚，有些HEAL工作的收入并不高。例如，医务助理的年薪约为3.8万美元。但是，许多传统的男性专属职业工作收入也不高，建筑工人、公交车和出租车司机的收入都与医务助理差不多。然而，也有很多HEAL工作的薪酬和福利相当不错，包括护理医师（10万美元）、医疗卫生服务机构经理（7.1万美元）、教育和托幼机构管理人员（7万美元）以及职业治疗师（7.2万美元）。

The second reason to get more men into HEAL is to help meet labor shortages in critical occupations. Almost half of all registered nurses are now over the age of 50. This means many are likely to retire over the next 15 years， especially if they are under greater stress at work. And the number of nurses and nurse practitioners needed is expected to increase by about 400，000 by 2030.

让更多男性从事HEAL行业的第二个理由是帮助缓解关键职业的劳动力短缺问题。目前，几乎一半的注册护士年龄都在50岁以上。这意味着许多护士可能会在未来15年内退休，如果工作压力增大，他们可能会更早退休。预计到2030年，护士和护理医师的需求量将增加约40万。

Teaching faces similar challenges， especially in particular cities and states. Enrollment rates in teacher training programs declined by more than a third between 2000 and 2018， and the fall was larger for men than for women. Drastic action is being taken in some places. New Mexico has drafted National Guard soldiers as substitute teachers; a Minneapolis school district asked for parent volunteers to get a substitute teacher license; and Polk County， Florida， flew in sixty teachers from eight foreign countries， all with J-1 visas. Gov Ron DeSantis is allowing veterans without a college degree， to teach.

教师职业也面临着类似挑战，在某些城市和州尤其如此。2000年至2018年间，师资培训项目的入学率下降了1/3以上，且男性入学率的下降幅度大于女性。一些地方已经对此采取严厉措施。新墨西哥州征召国民警卫队士兵担任代课教师；明尼阿波利斯市的一个学区要求家长志愿者考取代课教师资格证；佛罗里达州的波尔克县从8个国家引进60名持有J-1签证的教师，州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯还准备批准没有本科学位的退伍军人担任教师。

But these are short-term solutions at best. A massive teacher recruitment drive is needed， including among men. We face labor shortages in two of the largest and most important sectors of our economy—health care and education. But we are trying to solve them with only half the workforce.

但这些措施充其量只能缓解一时之困。我们需要大规模招聘教师，包括要面向男性招聘。我国经济两个最庞大、最重要的部门——医疗保健和教育——都面临着劳动力短缺问题，但我们试图只依靠一半的劳动力来解决问题。

The third argument for men in HEAL is to provide a better service to boys and men. Many would prefer to be cared for by a man， especially in certain circumstances. Consider the case of a man in need of help using the bathroom in a hospital or care home， or the fatherless teenage boy needing help from a psychologist with their substance abuse. In each case， they may prefer a male provider. At the very least， it should be an option.

让男性从事HEAL行业的第三个理由是为男孩和男性提供更好的服务。许多人更希望得到男性的护理，在某些情况下尤其如此。例如，医院或护理院的男性病患如厕时需要护工协助，或者丧父的青少年需要心理学家帮助解决滥用药物问题。在这两个例子里，他们都可能更倾向于得到男性的帮助，至少他们应该有这个选择。

It is not ideal if most substance abuse counselors are women （76%） when most substance abusers are men （67%）， or that most special education teachers are women （84%） when most students being referred to special education are male （64%）. I’m not saying we need to aim for perfect gender parity in these occupations. But it is reasonable to aim for a closer match between users and providers.

大多数药物滥用者都是男性（67%），但大多数药物滥用问题顾问都是女性（76%）；大多数转送到特殊教育机构的学生都是男性（64%），但大多数特殊教育教师都是女性（84%）。这些情况都不是理想的状态。我并不是说我们要追求这些职业实现完全的性别均等。但是，让服务使用者和服务提供者之间的比例更加平衡，是非常合理的追求。

Getting more men into HEAL occupations would be good for men， good for the professions， and good for clients—a win-win-win.

让更多男性从事HEAL行业对男性有利，对职业有利，对客户也有利——这是一个三赢的结果。

But how？ By learning the lessons from the successful movement to get more women into STEM professions. As a society， we recognized the need to get more women into STEM jobs， and invested accordingly. Now the same is true of men and HEAL. I propose at least a $1 billion national investment， over the next decade， in service of this goal.

要怎么做呢？让更多女性投身于STEM行业的运动已经取得了成功，我们可以从中汲取经验。我们全社会已经认识到让更多女性从事STEM行业的必要性，并进行了相应的投资。现在，对男性和HEAL行业也应该如此作为。我建议国家在未来十年内至少投资10亿美元，以实现让更多男性从事HEAL行业的目标。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者；单位：广东外语外贸大学南国商学院）