“It’s My Calling”: Gendered Pathways to Funeral Work

Abstract

One of the most prominent features of the U.S. labor force is sex segregation among college majors and across career choices. Hegemonic cultural gender beliefs shape career choices and most men and women go into gender typical majors and occupations, even in death care industries. To better understand how cultural gender beliefs shape occupational choice and socialization, this article investigates the gendered pathways to funeral directing, an occupation historically male-dominated and currently feminizing. Using 21 interviews with mortuary science students, the findings indicate gender differences in the pathways to funeral work and highlight how occupational choice and socialization into funeral work is a gendered process.

Expanding the Horizontal Call: A Typology of Social Influence on the Call to Ministry

“…We suspect that professionals in fields such as law, medicine, and education, may also describe actors who play roles similar to the instigators, affirmers, codiscerners, and challengers described here. We also suspect that familial ties to a profession play an important role in shaping and facilitating how they understand their work and that gender and other social identities—including race, religion, and sexuality—play an important role in the construction of a “professional calling” (Donley 2021; Karunanayake and Nauta 2004; Lockwood 2006). We encourage additional research on the antecedents and maintenance of call orientations with particular attention to these social factors.…”

Living Authentically in the Face of Death: Predictors of Autonomous Motivation Among Individuals Exposed to Chronic Mortality Cues Compared to a Matched Community Sample

“…More autonomously motivated individuals pursue personally meaningful and fulfilling goals that are well-aligned with their values (Ryan & Deci, 2002). Therefore, such individuals may be drawn toward funeral and cemetery work to the extent that it can provide an opportunity for meaningful engagement (e.g., through helping others and contributing to the community; Donley, 2019). However, the current study focused on present motivations in general, rather than the various potential motivations for entering this line of work (also including financial security and continuing a family legacy; Donley, 2019) or the degree to which these were autonomous.…”

“…Therefore, such individuals may be drawn toward funeral and cemetery work to the extent that it can provide an opportunity for meaningful engagement (e.g., through helping others and contributing to the community; Donley, 2019). However, the current study focused on present motivations in general, rather than the various potential motivations for entering this line of work (also including financial security and continuing a family legacy; Donley, 2019) or the degree to which these were autonomous. To better tease apart the influence of these factors and the direction of causality, longitudinal research designs which assess personal characteristics and motivations at the intake of new employees and then follow up periodically thereafter would be of considerable value.…”

A Relative Absence: Exploring Professional Experiences of Funerals Without Mourners

“…In his biographical model of grief, Walter (1996) proposes that through sharing stories and memories, mourners create an enduring account of the person they have lost, which enables them to integrate the dead into their ongoing lives. Funerals thus serve an important therapeutic function for those in attendance and can be interpreted as a form of care work (Donley, 2019). For example, Bailey (2010) found that in their family liaison work, funeral arrangers were motivated by an empathic care that went beyond the prescriptive emotional labour required by professional codes of conduct.…”