Gender stereotypes
Cultural norms may shape who seeks to become a health professional. Boys and girls may grow up with certain ideas about what careers they "should" aspire to follow. Likewise, students may not pursue a certain career and may be channeled into occupations based on gender stereotypes. The diversity of the health workforce within a country may be diminished, which could affect the availability and distribution of health workers and the supply of services.
In health professional cadres such as nursing and nutrition, gender stereotypes may result in a limited number of men or women choosing to pursue a given course of study. From a health systems perspective, limiting a significant proportion of potential students from pursuing careers in health may contribute further to the health workforce challenges in many countries. Gender stereotypes prevent some students from having an equal opportunity to pursue a career of their choice. In health professional education systems in various contexts, gender stereotypes assign women to the “more nurturing” professions. Consider this comment:
A man is “lowering his dignity by taking [nursing] up.” —Kenyan health professional school official on common perceptions of student career options (Newman et al. 2011)
The influence of gender stereotypes on the career selection of prospective health students may eventually contribute to occupational segregation, where men and women occupy separate professions within the health system. These disparities can result in a very limited number of male or female health workers being skilled in a certain health area, which further perpetuates gender inequalities. Historically, gender stereotypes in some contexts tended to push men to become doctors and women to become nurses. However, the proportion of women in medicine is rising worldwide: in the UK, 70% of medical school intakes are women (WHO n.d.).
Suggested data analyses
Sex-disaggregated analyses of the number of applicants for each health professional program of study can help to determine if there are gender differences in career selection that could be attributed to gender stereotyping. The number or proportion of females vs. males who ultimately join different health worker cadres could also reveal trends that may be traced back to career selection. (See the Career Paths page to examine data from Kenya and the US.)
Qualitative research, surveys, focus group discussions, or other special studies with prospective health professional students can help you to understand more about their career selection choices, and whether gender stereotypes or cultural expectations push male and female students into certain programs of study.
Ask Yourself:
|