Challenging Stereotypes: Workplace Experiences of Male Occupational Therapists in South Luzon, Philippines

Abstract

Occupational therapy (OT) is a female-dominated profession where male counterparts are part of the minority. As such, there may be unique encounters and various workplace experiences that might be present and limited to cis-male occupational therapists that need to be explored. This may present a possibility of experiences unique only to male OTs as a minority group not experienced by female OTs. Hence, the study focuses on the workplace experiences of male occupational therapists in South Luzon and aims to explore various narratives of cis-male therapists in the workplace. Utilized in this study is the descriptive phenomenological design with seven cis-male occupational therapists recruited for in-depth interviews to gather the necessary qualitative data through purposive sampling. Three main themes were generated: OT workplace environment, gender in the OT workplace, demands of the OT profession, and interest in the OT field, with further understanding of the concepts of post-structuralism in gender equality. The study has led to the conclusion that although gender does play a part in being an occupational therapist in the workplace, it does not entirely affect the way that they perform despite being part of the considered minority in occupational therapy.