This research explores the career development of men who cross over into the historically female occupation of physical therapy, drawing from a critical feminist perspective on sport, work, and the gender order. Data gathered from thirty-two semistructured interviews with early- and mid-career men indicate that a traditional emphasis on athleticism shaped men's career entry and early specialty choices. Men in physical therapy described a “good physical therapist” as displaying both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits. Although athleticism shaped men's abilities to comfortably accept alternative masculinities in the form of caring work, early-career specialty choices reinforced hegemonic patterns of occupational segregation. Implications for gender equality at work are discussed and limitations to feminist perspectives are noted.
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