Evelyn Haberl from the Institute of Therapy and Midwifery Sciences at IMC Krems is investigating what motivates men to take on caring responsibilities. Her research journey is unfolding step by step in line with the principles of Grounded Theory – much like her professional career to date.
News
Resources for New Gender Roles
Why are cream jars round, of all things? Precisely because they are difficult to screw shut with cream-covered hands. Even at school, Evelyn Haberl was interested in why everyday objects are designed in ways that do not work for so many people. Her grandfather’s stroke was a formative experience during her youth. As for many other people in Austria, it was also the moment when she was suddenly confronted with the issue of caring for a family member at home.
The other experience was one she encountered first-hand. As a research associate at the Institute of Therapy and Midwifery Sciences at IMC Krems, she says: “I have lived with chronic illnesses since I was a teenager, which has meant taking a few detours and repeatedly changing my career path and educational choices. From my own experience, I know what it means to depend on support in everyday life at times.” As a trained occupational therapist and interior designer, Haberl sees her commitment to research – most recently, for example, in the CROB project – as an opportunity to be in the right place “to make a meaningful contribution through my work”.
Resources rather than deficits
She successfully applied for a doctoral position funded by the Society for Research Promotion Lower Austria and, over the next three years, will use her project “Caring Partners” to investigate what might encourage and motivate men to become involved as family carers. How do people react when she tells them about her research? Haberl says: “With enthusiasm and recognition, because many already know how important home-based care is in our society. They then share their own experiences and often confirm the traditional division of roles described in studies, according to which this responsibility is seen as a woman’s task.” Some men initially feel personally challenged, but when she explains “that I am not pointing the finger at individuals, but want to look at how we as a society are shaped by ideas about roles and responsibilities”, they too begin sharing personal stories – for example, of a mother who, after suffering a stroke, was cared for by her daughters and daughters-in-law rather than her sons.
Asking about motivation, role models and possible turning points in the biographies of men who provide care may sound obvious, but it has so far received only limited research attention. As a graduate of the Master’s programme in General Health Sciences, Haberl wants to focus on resources rather than deficits. Her research centres on men who take on caring responsibilities – and what can be learned from their experiences.
Care as part of masculinity
Researchers use the term “Caring Masculinity” to describe an understanding of masculinity that incorporates care and responsibility. Through qualitative interviews, Haberl wants to analyse which formative experiences and influences have been important in the men’s lives, which role models they had, and whether they themselves have experienced care or support. At the same time, she plans to interview Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, about their expectations, perceptions and concerns regarding care work.
“I will conduct 20 face-to-face interviews with people in each of the two groups in Lower Austria and use creative techniques based on Life Course Theory to map their life journeys. My approach to qualitative research methodology is Grounded Theory. This means that I will continuously adapt my interview guide after each interview, whenever necessary.”
As a final step, Haberl plans to organise workshops in which men from different age groups and life situations will jointly develop recommendations for action and policy recommendations aimed at achieving a fairer distribution of care work in Lower Austria.
Since March 2026, the doctoral researcher has been delving into sociological literature and is currently preparing her application to the ethics committee as part of the study design process. She is also looking to Sweden, where care work – for example, childcare – is distributed relatively evenly between women and men and where relevant research findings are already available. Her doctoral thesis is being supervised at IMC Krems by Hanna Köttl and at the University of Vienna by the Department of Nursing Science. At the same time, she is building a network to recruit suitable interview participants.
What Evelyn Haberl enjoys about academic research is solving puzzles and the fact that it lies at the intersection of her childhood ambitions to become a writer and an inventor: “On the one hand, I have to find the right words and choose them carefully; on the other, I have to understand why things are the way they are and how they can be improved.” To reduce stress and clear her head, she tends to her plants on the balcony and goes dancing.
Author: Astrid Kuffner
