Gender Stereotypes In The Dental Field

In order accomplish anything in life, there needs to be a plan or path to get there. This especially applies to my career path in the dental field. Enrolling at Roosevelt University allowed me to be one step closer to that path, in which I will be earning my Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Biology. After I finish my bachelors, I plan to take the DAT prior to seeking admission to a four year professional Dental school program and from there obtain a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. Social psychology plays a major role in everyday life, including the path I have chosen. The three topics and concepts from this course that relate to my future career plan in the dental field are nature of authority influencing obedience,

stereotypes, and framing.
Our social world plays a major role in impacting our attitudes and behaviors. According to the text, obedience is a behavior change produced by the commands of an authority figure. Obedience is different from conformity in that conformity usually occurs through some type of social pressure that is consistent with majority group norms. Looking at obedience, it involves some type of power or status of the authoritative figure, which makes us obey their commands. The thought of being obedient is often overlooked as obedience occurs in everyday life and day to day activities, but it brings an important question to mind, what makes someone obey and does the appearance of an authority figure make a difference in the process. A study was done by a psychologist named Bickman in 1974 on the streets of New York. Bickman’s purpose was to see if uniforms influenced authority and obedience. He performed this study by using three confederates, who dressed as ordinary civilian, a milkman, and a security guard and their task was to ask those who passed by to pick up a bag, stand on the opposite side of a sign, or giving someone a dime for a parking meter. The results showed that ninety-two percent of the people followed orders from the confederate that was wearing the security guard uniform versus only forty-two percent followed the request of the one wearing street clothes. This demonstrated the power of uniforms and revealed that wearing them increases obedience. In addition, more people are willing to obey orders when the person that is making the request is seen as being more knowledgeable. In general, people seen in uniforms are seen as more knowledgeable than those that are not wearing them. This concept relates to many health professions, such as the dental field. Dental uniforms such as a white coat or scrubs are worn on a daily basis and the workers are expected to follow that dress code. The uniform plays a role in making the doctor seen as an authority figure and impacts the attitude and behavior of patients that come to the clinic. The doctor is not only seen as being much more knowledgeable, but patients will be more inclined to agree and obey what the doctor has to say regarding recommended treatments and advice on dental hygiene.
The topic of stereotypes is another concept studied throughout the course, which relates to my future career plan in the dental field.

Stereotypes are beliefs that associate a whole group of people with certain traits, as stated in the book. Specifically, gender stereotypes is when there is a generalized view about roles that are considered to be possessed and performed by only men or women. Gender stereotypes can have a harmful impact on women’s achievements in their occupations. Currently, there has been an increase in women dominating work fields in which males were traditionally dominating. However, women still encounter many obstacles when achieving success in these fields because majority view female-dominated jobs such as nursing, teaching, and as secretaries that require more female physical and personality traits. Occupations such as being doctors, lawyers, and business executives are seen as male-dominated jobs and ones that require personality traits of men. It’s due to these stereotypical roles that have been set that both males and females show a bias towards male applicants in occupations of higher-reputation. So when it comes to who will be hired, males are preferred over females due to their masculine qualities, even though they have the same qualifications. In cases where females have been hired for these high positions, women are faced with other obstacles, such as having less authority, recognition, and salary compared to men. A study that was conducted of both male and female managers in 500 corporations showed that women still didn’t make as much money as men did, even though they were both equal when it came to their education, experience in similar fields, and had the same commitment. This relates to the dental health field, because according to the bureau of labor statistics, female dentist make less money compared to men and are seen as being less in charge. According to The Implications of Gender Stereotypes for the Dentist-Patient

Relationship study, there is a clear gender gap in patient perceptions, “males are more capable of juggling work and family because they are also viewed as being more “in charge” than females. This in charge perception may be a lingering artifact based on the history of dentistry when women traditionally served in sup-porting roles such as dental hygienists and assistants.” So being a future female dentist I may face some of these obstacles of being seen as someone who isn’t as capable as a male dentist and will face having to not get paid as well as men do, even though I will be just as qualified as they are.
A third concept that was learned in class that relates to my future career is framing. Framing is the tendency to see an issue differently based on the way it is presented. Framing has a great impact on how we think and see the world around us. Framing is a powerful tool when making a statement. Everything around us and everything we do has been framed. The way we act or prepare for a certain situation or event to how we view people, things, and the world around us. Health messages are often framed and greatly influence people’s health promoting behaviors and attitudes. A message can be framed negatively, where the cost of not engaging in a behavior can be effective or a gain-framed message can be used, in which the benefits of engaging in a behavior can be effective in preventing a problem from occurring. An example of how wording can influence people’s behavior was seen with a study done by Meyerowitz and Chaiken in 1987, where they gave women breast self-exam pamphlets . These pamphlets consisted of either a positive or a negative framed message. The positively framed message stated, “Research shows that women who do breast self-exam have an increased chance of finding a tumor in the early, more treatable stage of the disease” and the negatively framed message stated, “Research shows that women who do not do breast self-exam have a decreased chance of finding a tumor in the early, more treatable stage of the disease.” The results showed that those women who were exposed to framed messages that were negatively framed showed more intentions and attitudes that were positive about engaging in breast self-exam. The concept of framing relates to the dental field in which dentists have to think of strategies to promote good daily oral health and change their patients’ behaviors and attitudes to be more positive towards getting treatment and visiting dentists on a regular basis.