Gender‐Based Perspectives on Professional Healthcare Chaplaincy Board Certification. Issue 4 (24th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: White, Kelsey B.; Combs, Ryan M.; Decker, Hallie R.; Schmidt, Brandon M.
• Is Part Of: Journal for the scientific study of religion. Volume 60:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 871
• Page End: 889
• Publication Date: 2021-07-24
• Subjects: chaplaincy -- healthcare -- certification -- gender -- professionalization; Religion -- Periodicals; 200
• DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12752
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8294

Abstract

Abstract: This article explores the ways in which gendered processes play out through the professionalization of chaplains in healthcare settings. It describes how gender manifests within organizations, how literature addresses the role of gender in professionalization, and considerations for professional chaplaincy. Fifty interviews with U.S. chaplains were analyzed to explore the relationship between the professionalization of chaplaincy and male and female positionality. Although gender theory moves beyond binary conceptualizations of gender, all participants in this study self‐identified as male or female and our data were analyzed accordingly. The language and professionalization efforts used by male and female chaplains mirror the gendered cultural expectations associated with these groups. This article notes how the patriarchal structures of both religious and healthcare institutions are inextricably embedded in the chaplaincy profession; thus, female chaplains have found it necessary to challenge these systems from the beginning.