De-gendering Gendered Occupations: Analysing Communicative Practices in the Workplace

This collection brings together contributions from researchers on language and gender studies and workplace discourse to unpack and challenge hegemonic gendered norms encoded in what have been traditionally considered “female” occupations in which men are the minority. The volume integrates a range of theoretical frameworks, including conversation analysis, pragmatics, and interactional sociolinguistics, toward analyzing data from such professions as primary education, healthcare, and speech and language therapy across various geographic contexts. Through this lens, the first part of the book examines men’s linguistic practices with the second part offering a comparative analysis of “male” and “female” discourse. The settings discussed here offer researchers the opportunity to explore the ways in which cultural, professional, and gendered identity intersect for practitioners in these professions and in turn, future implications for discourse around gendered professions more generally. The collection will be key reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, gender studies, cultural studies, and professional discourse