Coping and career choices: Irish gay men’s passage from hopelessness to redemption

This study investigates the impact of systemic oppression on a marginalized group and their response to it through market-based choices of careers. The marginalized group consists of single, semi-closeted, middle-aged Irish gay men. Their lives have been severely impaired by the Catholic condemnation of homosexuality. Through an oral history approach and by considering the under-theorized intersection of religion, homosexuality, and career, our study shows the importance of the underlying process of coping. Our findings reveal that the study participants initially engaged in various forms of self-punishment amidst a state of hopelessness. This later led to their pursuit of altruistic careers through which they seemingly gained a sense of redemption. By delving into coping processes involving career choices, we show that altruism can be a means to cope with systemic oppression.