Introduction:
One of the important challenges the leaders are facing in the today medical field is gender disparity. Gender disparity can be defined as a purely descriptive observation of different outcomes between males and females (Filmer , King, & Pritchett, 1997). In order to fully understand this observation, we must ask ourselves what cause gender disparity. The cause of gender disparity might be discrimination, biological differences, individual and societal beliefs and attitudes about appropriate gender-specific roles, and the choices of individuals and households based (Filmer , King, & Pritchett, 1997). Getting away from the introduction, we explore the gender gap between males and females in medical professions in considering divergent
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In education, the share of medical degrees earned by women increased from 5% in 1952 to 48% in 2011, while 52% of males earned a medical degree in the United State in 2011 (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). This statement offered in justification gives a quite satisfactory reason. For example, women entering medical school often encounter many barriers such as stereotyping that limit their choices. On the contrary to medical schools, women largely represent nursing school. About 2.7% of registered nurses were men in 1970 compared to 9.6% in 2011, while 91% of nurses were women (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). The rational grounds or motive here are that males decide to become nurses for survival needs. For example, males who are often rejected in medical school eventually choose nursing school which is closely related to medical school. As a result, they become male nurse to earn a decent paycheck. In addition, males are lightly to resign from nursing after graduation more than females. In medical practices, women are inadequately represented. In 2010, women were 34% of physicians and surgeons in the United States, compared to 66% of male …show more content…
Again, Women physicians are less likely to have ownership in the practice where they work. In 2004, only 41% of women owned at least part of their practice, compared to 59% of men (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). In terms of working hours, women physicians work 7 hours less per week than men on average. A 2006 survey of physicians under 50 found that 24% of women physicians and 2% of men reported working part-time at some point (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). Fewer working hours than men can relate to women’s nature and family obligations to attend. For example, the mother assists their young one during school’s event. In segregated specialties, gender distributions among medical specialties are highly noticeable. Women are only 29% of all physicians, yet they are overrepresented with lower paying specialties (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). Pediatrics is the only specialty with 55% of women physicians vs. 45% of men physicians while in other specialties such as orthopedic, thoracic, urology, and neurology, women represented less than 6% of surgeons in 2005 (Williams, Pecenco, & Blair-Loy, 2013). In France, 29% of general practitioners were women vs. 13% in 1983 (Dumontet, Le Vaillant, & Franc, 2012).
Medical dramas have been around a long time and changes have been made to recreate and reinforce our society. Women and people of color could not and were not physicians on television, film and in the Western world back in the less progressive years. Now there are women, gay people, African Americans, Asians, and many more minorities playing doctors. Television has certain portrayals of femininity and masculinity, even if it has come far. On the episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Rise Up”, Dr. Owen Hunt asks Dr. Callie Torres about two female surgeons and who he should chose to participate in the solo surgery. One of the candidates, Dr. Cristina Yang, comes into the room to explain the charts to both doctors. She later leaves when asked to go update
The role of females in mainstream culture has grown significantly from the conservative and restricted characters of women in early nineteenth century media. Coupled with the influx of women into once male dominated fields such as medicine, the image of female success has continued to develop and become more prominent to this day. In modern day society however, several stereotypes surrounding both males and females within the medical field are still present in popular culture. In media concerned with the medical field such as television and cinematic works, the conventional image of a white, male surgeon along with his cast of female nurses and male physicians is seen often. Grey’s Anatomy
Its 1:30 am and you are have just experienced a major car wreck. You are in the ambulance where the paramedics are telling you it will be ok just hold still big. You arrive at the emergency room and everything is a blurred. You don’t care if the nurse is a female or a male. You don’t stop the male nurse from caring for you. But what happens when you go to the doctor for a follow up visit and see a male nurse? Do you still see a powerful male that saved your life or a powerless manweak feminine failure ? When providing care for a patient, a male nurse faces challenges such as gender bias and judgement .
“Males make up about 5% of all RNs working in the United States today” (Poliafico). Nursing is a profession in the health care field that concentrates on the nurturing care of individuals. The United States currently lacks testosterone (the male hormone) in the nursing field. The subject is something many people have thought about at least once in their lives. Some may argue nursing is a career meant for a woman, while others may argue it is a non-gender specified career option. Either way, the world has come to accept the lack of men in nursing. The nursing profession should be for both men and women, but society puts a stereotype on the ‘average nurse’ preventing men from being accepted into this career.
There has always been a gender inequality issue in most jobs in the work force, but many may not see this inequality in the nursing field because they do not pay attention to it fully. Many people still have the stereotype that women are the only ones in this job field, but this is not the case anymore. This job field is always in demand for new nurses, and many women and men choose this field to the high pay and the satisfaction of helping others. This job field is one of the more female dominated careers. In 2013 only 10 percent of the population of nurses were men (Tanner, L. 2015). If only 10 percent of the population is men are nurses, they should not get paid anymore than women. Even though they are both doing the same job and received the same training, the gap between pay between male and female nurses is astonishing because they are both doing the same job, and they are both trained equally. Some nurse’s, male or female, may get paid more for years of experience or a more skilled training class, but there should not be a $10,000 gap. Many researchers give a few reasons why there is a wage gap. For example, some women leave their jobs to have children and have to come back to a lower paying job. This should not be one of the reasons women are getting paid less; just because they give birth to a child should not result in a pay gap. Until this inequality between women and men is resolved, there will always be this stereotype that men are above women.
There was seldom a mention of male and male students choosing to become nurses. Along with the belief of nursing being a career choice more female-directed, there was also the repeated mention of the career being for middle-class women (Price, 2008). Historically, women have been the dominant face of nursing and it has always been considered a suitable career for women, whereas most careers in the past would never be acceptable for a female. For some of the female students who were interviewed, this stereotype was part of a deferent to choosing nursing. They did not want to be thought of as a stereotypical women, and be casted into a mould of what most women choose (Price, Hall, Angus, & Peter, 2013). In a modern society, more and more women are wishing to push the boundaries on what use to be referred to as a male dominated territory. This is true in careers as well. Many females second guess their decision in choosing nursing due to
When people think of a nurse they normally come to the conclusion that most nurses are women. I would have thought the same, due to the qualities I have mentioned. I would like to research why men are entering the nursing profession. I feel that a male would join the profession because of the hours a nurse works. Men who like to fish and hunt can work as a nurse three days a week full time and have four days to enjoy leisure activities. The nursing profession is drawing more men into the field and usually thought for the same reasons as women. By a series of an observation, a survey, an interview, and a personal history, I will prove that men join the nursing profession because of money.
Among twenty leading female-dominated professions, registered nurses (RN’s) are the second most occupation that employed women in 2006¬. Similar to many traditionally female professions, the percentage of male in nursing is small. In fact, male nurses only comprised eight percent of RN’s in 2008. Although much effort has been made to recruit more men into nursing, many contributing factors have driven them away from this profession. Those factors include poor nursing image, negative public perception, low economic status, and gender stereotypes. One of the most significant factors that deter men from entering the profession is stereotypes. Research shows that men might be more likely to encounter stereotypes than discrimination; however, gender discrimination throughout the society still exists, which may discourage them from entering the profession. Gender segregation has separated male nurses into the minority group that faces many obstacles within the profession, in which negative stereotypes are the primary obstacle for men who want to enter the nursing force.
Furthermore, the lack of male teachers and male role models in nursing education programs enhance the discrimination issues. In the absence of male teachers, male students remain exposed to a female dominated teaching faculty, in addition to feminine orientated interpretations of the nursing profession (Mohamed, Mohamed, 2015). It was perceive male and female student’s encounter different learning experiences, however this was based on the sexist fact men lack maternal instinct. Also observed in practical classroom settings teachers generally selected males for gender role-play activities and rarely selected males for the nurse role. Evidently, nurse educators frequently refer to a nurse in a female context during teaching situations, furthermore nursing textbooks project a strong feminine tone. The exclusion of male nursing students from certain practical and clinical training programs can negativity impact a students future career decisions (Kouta, Kaite, 2011). Improvements to teacher training and the updating of nursing resources, acknowledging nurses of both gender, can facilitate positive male student nurse outcomes to future career pathways (Mohamed, Mohamed,
Just 2.7 percent of the working nurse population in the United States are men. To understand why nursing is dominated by women, we have to examine the its history. Male nurses may belong, but there?s still not many around. According to the U.S. Labor Department statistics, "6.7 percent of registered nurses were male"(statistics). Gender discrimination in nursing exists because of prejudices male students encounter in the classroom, in the workplace and with the patients.
There are also gender based stereotypes towards male nurses from colleagues and patients with some colleagues believing that they should not even be a nurse and only calling upon male nurses for jobs that require strength (Rajacich et al., 2013). What these nurses do not realise is that in some cases male nurses are actually preferred, especially when it is an adolescent male as they generally feel relieved when a male is washing them rather than a typical female nurse (Whittock & Leonard, 2003a) and that their discrimination can cause high stress, low job satisfaction as well as low mental and physical health (Hopfendl, 2013).... ... middle of paper ... ...
Bowman, M., & Frank, E. (2002). Historical Context. In Women in Medicine: Career and Life Management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
...ld. Women are most often stereotyped as only being nurses or other lower-end health professionals. There is a huge difference between the percent of males and the percent of females when it comes to more advanced medical fields. A study conducted by Reed and Fischer found that women are not promoted at the same rate as men in medical fields. They feel that women are under-represented in higher medical positions. The CEJA found that there is a large difference in salaries between men and women. Studies show that the average female physician earns 34 percent less than her male counterpart. Female physicians are more likely to earn a relatively low income and are less likely to gain a relatively higher income. For example, while 19 percent of female physicians earned less than $60,000, only 7 percent of male physicians earned less than that same amount (CEJA, 1994).
In the operation of the healthcare system, gender plays a central role. Gender discrimination in the healthcare exists either in the field of education, workplace or while attending to the patients. Interestingly, as opposed to other areas where discrimination lies heavily to a particular gender; gender inequality in health happens to both women and men. Gender inequality in the health care service negatively affects the quality of care given and perpetuates patient biases to a gender. Also, the gender disparities in the field of health assists researchers and practitioners to study conditions and their probable manifestations within both sexes.
Stereotypes of taking up a female position, lack of male interest in the profession, low wage, nursing job nicknames, such as Sister and Matron, and the assumption that male nurses will have a harder time in the workplace carrying out their duties are just a few examples. There is a shortage of male nurses at the moment, but there is no sign that they suffer in their career. Despite equal opportunity legislation, nursing has continued to be a female-dominated profession. For instance, the male-to-female ratio of nurses is approximately 1:19 in Canada and the United States. Evidence suggests that male nurses can be fast