New Occupation Choices for Men男性的新職業選擇

“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.

在我兒子大約六歲時，有一次我帶他看完兒科醫生，在開車回家的路上，他忽然對我說：“我不知道原來男人還可以當醫生啊。”他的話讓我一下子感到茫然，然后我才意識到，我們剛剛看的醫生是他遇到的第一個男醫生。

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.

我向他保證，男人確實可以當醫生，而且我還特別注意加了一句：“當然，男人還可以當護士。”他這個小發現讓我強烈地想起一句女權主義者奉為圭臬的話：“你必須看見它，才能成為它。”如果某種活動（包括職業）被認為是異性的專利，那么它就不可能成為你的理想。

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.”

在我兒子就讀的小學，所有教職工都是女性，我花了好長時間才讓他相信男人也可以當老師。榜樣是非常重要的，正如格洛麗亞·斯泰納姆在1995年所說，“我們對男女性別壁壘的錯誤觀念，正是源自我們兒時所見”。

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.

近幾十年來，科學、醫學、工程、法律，甚至軍事等領域里許多歷來被視為男性專屬的職業，在破除性別刻板印象方面已經取得巨大進步。1966年老版《梅森探案集》播出時，法律專業學生只有4%是女性。到2020年夏天HBO電視網出品的新版《梅森探案集》播出時，法學院的男女學生數量已經大致相當了。諸如“女律師”和“女醫生”這樣的說法已經過時了。

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.

其他曾經由男性主導的行業也出現了類似的趨勢。1980年，在STEM（科學、技術、工程和數學）行業，女性僅占13%，現在這一比例已經翻了一番多，達到27%。科技行業打破性別壁壘的進展尤其緩慢。

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.”

但另一方向的情況并非如此。歷來被視為女性專屬的職業，尤其在我所說的HEAL（醫療、教育、行政和文秘）行業，如果說有什么變化的話，那就是變得更加“粉領”。HEAL行業的男性比例從1980年的35%下降到26%。迄今為止，勞動力市場性別隔離的廢除幾乎完全是單向的：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.

某些職業的男性比例已經出現大幅下滑。例如，在過去10年，從事心理學工作的男性比例已從39%下降至29%。男性社工的比例還不到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教師中，男性的比例從20世紀80年代初的33%下降至如今的24%。只有1/10的小學教師是男性，早教領域則幾乎看不到男性的身影。學前班和幼兒園的男性教師居然只占3%，國家真應該引以為恥。按職業比例來看，駕駛美國軍機的女飛行員是幼兒園男教師的兩倍。

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.

讓更多男性從事HEAL行業，有三個刻不容緩的理由。首先，傳統的男性專屬職業在減少，男性要到HEAL行業找工作。藍領工作崗位正在逐漸消失。雖然也會有更多STEM行業的工作崗位，但這些工作所占比重小得多。STEM行業的工作崗位僅占所有職業的7%，而HEAL行業的工作崗位則占23%。現在到2030年，STEM崗位每新增一個，HEAL崗位會增加三個。勞動力市場正在迅速“女性化”，但男性尚未跟上這個趨勢。

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）.

的確，盡管大多數STEM工作薪資豐厚，有些HEAL工作的收入并不高。例如，醫務助理的年薪約為3.8萬美元。但是，許多傳統的男性專屬職業工作收入也不高，建筑工人、公交車和出租車司機的收入都與醫務助理差不多。然而，也有很多HEAL工作的薪酬和福利相當不錯，包括護理醫師（10萬美元）、醫療衛生服務機構經理（7.1萬美元）、教育和托幼機構管理人員（7萬美元）以及職業治療師（7.2萬美元）。

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.

讓更多男性從事HEAL行業的第二個理由是幫助緩解關鍵職業的勞動力短缺問題。目前，幾乎一半的注冊護士年齡都在50歲以上。這意味著許多護士可能會在未來15年內退休，如果工作壓力增大，他們可能會更早退休。預計到2030年，護士和護理醫師的需求量將增加約40萬。

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.

教師職業也面臨著類似挑戰，在某些城市和州尤其如此。2000年至2018年間，師資培訓項目的入學率下降了1/3以上，且男性入學率的下降幅度大于女性。一些地方已經對此采取嚴厲措施。新墨西哥州征召國民警衛隊士兵擔任代課教師；明尼阿波利斯市的一個學區要求家長志愿者考取代課教師資格證；佛羅里達州的波爾克縣從8個國家引進60名持有J-1簽證的教師，州長羅恩·德桑蒂斯還準備批準沒有本科學位的退伍軍人擔任教師。

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.

但這些措施充其量只能緩解一時之困。我們需要大規模招聘教師，包括要面向男性招聘。我國經濟兩個最龐大、最重要的部門——醫療保健和教育——都面臨著勞動力短缺問題，但我們試圖只依靠一半的勞動力來解決問題。

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.

讓男性從事HEAL行業的第三個理由是為男孩和男性提供更好的服務。許多人更希望得到男性的護理，在某些情況下尤其如此。例如，醫院或護理院的男性病患如廁時需要護工協助，或者喪父的青少年需要心理學家幫助解決濫用藥物問題。在這兩個例子里，他們都可能更傾向于得到男性的幫助，至少他們應該有這個選擇。

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.

大多數藥物濫用者都是男性（67%），但大多數藥物濫用問題顧問都是女性（76%）；大多數轉送到特殊教育機構的學生都是男性（64%），但大多數特殊教育教師都是女性（84%）。這些情況都不是理想的狀態。我并不是說我們要追求這些職業實現完全的性別均等。但是，讓服務使用者和服務提供者之間的比例更加平衡，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.

讓更多男性從事HEAL行業對男性有利，對職業有利，對客戶也有利——這是一個三贏的結果。

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？讓更多女性投身于STEM行業的運動已經取得了成功，我們可以從中汲取經驗。我們全社會已經認識到讓更多女性從事STEM行業的必要性，并進行了相應的投資。現在，對男性和HEAL行業也應該如此作為。我建議國家在未來十年內至少投資10億美元，以實現讓更多男性從事HEAL行業的目標。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：廣東外語外貿大學南國商學院）