More men at ASU are donning scrubs than the national average - but not as doctors.
Men accounted for about 11 percent of the 1,493 undergraduate nursing students in The College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, according to the ASU Institutional Analysis report.
That puts ASU higher than the national average of 9.7 percent reported by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
"Things have changed," said Cheryl Herrera, director of student services in the College of Nursing.
Herrera said it used to be that men traditionally wanted to be doctors and women wanted to be nurses.
"In our society, for a long time, there were different career paths imposed on boys and girls," Herrera said. "But it takes a generation for that to [change]."
With the breakdown of stereotypes, male students are becoming more aware of the profession, Herrera said.
Herrera added that nursing as a profession differs from other medical fields.
"You have much more personal contact with patients," Herrera said. "That relationship with patient and nurse is ongoing."
Steve Fosse, a nursing senior, said he changed his mind on majoring in computer science after a life-changing experience with nurses.
"I had a brain tumor and had surgery for it," Fosse said.
Fosse underwent surgery to remove the benign tumor - which he was told was the size of a tennis ball - in 2001 and was forced to drop out of school for six months.
Full Story: Male nurses shatter stereotypes [Web Devil]
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