The July/August issue of "Atlantic" has an interesting article called "The End of Men," about how
men are losing out in many areas of our society, esp. in the work force and in getting an education. It's
interesting, provocative article I highly recommend.
On page. 64, the author writes: "Nursing schools have tried hard to recruit men in the past
few years, with minimal success."
I'm curious as to what nursing schools have been doing to recruit men, what strategies have
they tried that haven't been very successful. Can those out there who know provide us with specific
nursing schools, specific examples of what they have tried to do to recruit men into nursing, and how
successful or unsuccessful it turned out.
Interesting article. Maybe a little overstated. I don't see us as an endangered species, quite yet.
My school didn't do any particular affirmative action to attract men, but my instructors were happy to have 16 of us in a class of 80, a record, at the time. My facility also has no measures in place to recruit men. I am still undecided as to whether they should. I guess I'm still used to the idea that men have an unfair advantage in most fields, which the article suggests may no longer be so true.
Some of the things that attracted me to nursing, like job security and decent pay, would probably appeal to a lot of guys. Some of the things that keep some guys from considering nursing probably should. It can be a pretty nasty job, and there's a lot to put up with. One could, perhaps, interpret the example of male second-career nurses to support the article: from various industries we are "reduced" to "wiping butts." I prefer to think those of us who had to adapt have taken the initiative to learn a "profession." Personally, I'm better off financially as a nurse than I ever was, and while I do tend to put profession in quotation marks, it seems like a honorable and important occupation.
I'm happy as a nurse. I sometimes joke that I'm a carpenter with a really crappy retirement plan. Truthfully, carpentry was about as much a service job as a manufacturing job. But I do have a certain nostalgia for those jobs were I was actually making something tangible. Nursing takes plenty of creativity and problem-solving, but you don't get much opportunity to look back and say, "I made that."
Eh, well. It's something to do until I can marry a doctor and be a SAHH.
Society owes itself gender equity. Any male dominated profession ( within the last few decades) has had the glaring light of equality shining in it's eyes. This disclosure presented advantages for women, but often came with outside pressure and pushing against difficult stone walls.
Asking what is being done today in female dominated professions should not only be expected, but should be required as a standard.
The article was interesting, and the surprising thing is that:
The pendulum actually has swung so far in so many areas but has not even managed to settle in the middle in heathcare.
Not a heathy societal standard.
The four major hospitals in this area show real male and female doctors spouting blurbs about "I am". ( The face of caring, the healing hands, the one to go to, etc..) But all nursing blurbs about caring and healing are....female faces. This goes a long way to predominate the well held theory that caring nurses will always be female, and those that are male will not be marketably represented.
A real way to encourage men into nursing is to SHOW men in nursing. Present them as viable candidates. Visually recruit them so they have a chance to find out what schools and hospitals will do to get and keep them.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
Society owes itself gender equity. Any male dominated profession ( within the last few decades) has had the glaring light of equality shining in it's eyes. This disclosure presented advantages for women, but often came with outside pressure and pushing against difficult stone walls.
Asking what is being done today in female dominated professions should not only be expected, but should be required as a standard.
The article was interesting, and the surprising thing is that:
The pendulum actually has swung so far in so many areas but has not even managed to settle in the middle in heathcare.
Not a heathy societal standard.
The four major hospitals in this area show real male and female doctors spouting blurbs about "I am". ( The face of caring, the healing hands, the one to go to, etc..) But all nursing blurbs about caring and healing are....female faces. This goes a long way to predominate the well held theory that caring nurses will always be female, and those that are male will not be marketably represented.
A real way to encourage men into nursing is to SHOW men in nursing. Present them as viable candidates. Visually recruit them so they have a chance to find out what schools and hospitals will do to get and keep them.
Excellent Point! The "face" of public relations is so often female for a reason.
But before I comment on that, there is a separate issue here. That issue is what appears to be a double standard in how gender dominated professions are balanced through outreach and recruitment. In particular, here, the nursing profession. Clearly, it seems only cursory, minor efforts have been extended to recruit men in to nursing as compared against efforts made to recruit women in other male dominated professions. Why? There haven't been any real consequences considered or implemented for failing to recruit more men in to nursing. Whereas, in years past, very real consequences were established and enforced in many areas that failed to recruit girls and women in to previously male dominated fields and opportunities. Things like Title IX, for example, made it necessary for equal sports opportunities despite a massively disproportionate interest in sports. In other words, despite having approximately 8 girls in a typical high school that may want to consider playing sports, the 225 sports hungry boys have to share their sports budget with girls programs on a 50/50 basis. Why? In the interest of balance and "fixing the system." Another example is that when the military was trying to recruit more females, the TV commercials showed young gals scaling the obstacle course walls. One watched that and got the impression, however briefly, that the military was full of women. At that time, it was not (less than 10%). However, the TV spots made it appear as through women were everywhere in the military. Efforts were made to balance things. Accommodations were extended.
Feminism has evolved and has been well entrenched in many areas of society. Feminism has been around for some time now. The early pioneers are now retiring. There are now very vocal, and powerful, third generation feminist with clout.
The very idea of boys and men needing assistance, needing outreach, needing support for anyting is still mostly a strange idea for many people in our society. The male gender has been marginalized for so many decades that to switch the reference frame on itself is almost counterintuitive. I think that has occured mainly because women have had a voice of solidarity well established, well entrenched and well supported for many many years now. Many, many non-feminist females (self-identified as such) benefit today from that feminist movement and voice of solidarity. As they fill the universities in disproportioniate numbers, climb the ranks of the military, graduate from medical schools in higher proportions, they often do so while trying to distance themselves from "feminism." It is almost a dirty word these days. Feminism, however, has been extremely successful in opening all doors to girls and women.
We, in America, live in one of only a few societies in the modern world that actually allow female correctional officers to strip search male inmates. How did such a thing every occur? Equal employment opportunity rights advocated through the feminist movement. We, in America, live in a society that permits female sports reporters in to male athlete locker rooms (free society professional men) even when they themselves (the free society professional men) don't want the intrusion on their dignity. Why? Equal employment opportunity rights advocated through the feminist movement.
Now, imagine something if you will. Imagine for a moment that when you woke up tomorrow morning the nursing profession was 95% male and 5% female. How long do you think it would take for lawsuits, outreach campaigns, recruitment incentives and legislative change to bring "balance" to the profession. It would be viewed as a broken system in need of fixing.
Now, back to my first point. The other issue. A female is the "face" of public relations for just about everything -- even professions that are not single gender lopsided. The reason is obvious. They are viewed as more appealing to the collective eye, so to speak. They are viewed as inherently wholesome, decent, and honest by virtue of the gender alone. They sell products and messages on that basis.
The nursing profession should implement serious efforts to recruit more men in to it.
But, seriously, why will it if there are no real incentives for succeeding or consequences for failing. Seriously, why would a hospital, clinic or practice want to recruit more male nurses when every time a male nurse treats a female patient he has to have a female chaperone. Instead, just hire the female competitor and then be in a position to more efficiently utilize staff.
I originally started this thread because, while reading the Atlantic article, "The End of Men," I came across this quote: ""Nursing schools have tried hard to recruit men in the past
few years, with minimal success."
I questioned the veracity of statement then and I still do. But I hoped to be proved wrong by more feedback. The response to this thread to some extent, and my own research to a larger extent, has convinced me of two current conditions.
1. The above statement is not true for most nursing schools. Some have recruitment programs for men. Most don't. A few just give lip service to the whole issue.
2. Among female nurses, nurse administrators and nurse educators -- in general -- there is very little interest in this issue. In our culture, and within the profession itself, nursing is still primarily seen is a female occupation and the few men in nursing are mere tokens.
Having said all that, I still could be wrong. But I've not been able to find any real significant effort by the profession to recruit male nurses.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
I just happen to think that there hasn't been any real major push to recruit males to nursing schools. There hasn't been any real effort to display/project the profession as one potentially appealing to male graduates (high school or college).
Unlike the push in years past to get females more entrenched in previously male-dominated fields (military, engineering, buisiness administration, math and science, etc.), there has never really been anything done, universally, to draw in males to nursing. All in all, I don't think most of society (including most males) care much whether or not the nursing profession ever becomes balanced. That may change some day, but we don't appear to be moving much in that direction. The males that become nurses these days really, really want the job -- they become nurses despite the negative backlash, despite the fall-out, so to speak. They swim up stream to become nurses.
In general, across the board, males don't support males the way females have supported females on most equity, or double standard, related issues in society.
I originally started this thread because, while reading the Atlantic article, "The End of Men," I came across this quote: ""Nursing schools have tried hard to recruit men in the past
few years, with minimal success."
I questioned the veracity of statement then and I still do. But I hoped to be proved wrong by more feedback. The response to this thread to some extent, and my own research to a larger extent, has convinced me of two current conditions.
1. The above statement is not true for most nursing schools. Some have recruitment programs for men. Most don't. A few just give lip service to the whole issue.
2. Among female nurses, nurse administrators and nurse educators -- in general -- there is very little interest in this issue. In our culture, and within the profession itself, nursing is still primarily seen is a female occupation and the few men in nursing are mere tokens.
Having said all that, I still could be wrong. But I've not been able to find any real significant effort by the profession to recruit male nurses.
What are YOUR sources for saying that schools and employers do NOT make an active effort to recruit men?
As I said in an earlier post, one of my schools gave extra points to men in the admissions process. My current employer has several male nurses not only employed, but in leadership positions. I know they try to recruit men and will usually at least interview a male applicant when only a portion of those who apply get an interview. So, my experience is that efforts ARE being made. What is your source of evidence that says that it is only lip service?
There's something that doesn't stick well with me to give preferential treatment to a majority gender in a field that has been dominated by the minority gender only because that same majority gender never let us do anything else.
The door to males in nursing isn't closed; they just don't want to walk through it. Women had doors slammed in their faces in male-dominated industries, which not too long ago was nearly all of them except secretarial work and teaching. That is the biggest difference in discussions on gender equity: were the opportunities for males to become nurses limited, or was there just never any interest?
I'd like to know if the construction, plumbing, and carpentry unions are keen on letting women in. I don't know, but I don't see many women involved in those industries, except for the token sign holder on the expressways around here during construction season.
I found a statement of fact in a major magazine. I challenge that statement. It's not up to me to prove that statement wrong. It's up to the writer who made it and the magazine that published it to supply the evidence to back it up. I doubt the author did a comprehensive study of nursing schools to see what they are doing to recruit male nurses. Maybe she found a study that has
already been done. Possible. More likely she interviewed a few people who told her that this was being done. I could be wrong, and if so I'll stand corrected. Meanwhile, I don't need to prove anything. It's up to those who made the assertion to back it up.
Specializes in I have watched actors portray nurses.
One way that researchers conclude whether or not outreach and recruitment is working or not (in any field) is to look at the results. That is often how policies designed to bring gender balance to traditionally male fields were/are evaluated.
Obviously, with a 95% female nursing ratio (generally accepted estimate in 2009) either little is being done to pull males in, or that which is done is failing miserably. The bottom line is that traditionally female professions like elementary school teaching, counseling, and nursing remain hugely lopsided toward females despite huge gains for females in traditionally male professions.
I happen to think that the very reason why outreach and recruitment for male nurses and elementary school teachers has clearely failed (when even such efforts were attempted) has something to do with an underlying cultural attitude. Efforts have been half-hearted. Why? Because of universal attitudes that males don't need or deserve such consideration. And that the nursing profession, for example, would not necessarily be better with more males in it. Males can be viewed as a liability for hospitals -- they need chaperones everytime they treat a female patient. They are vulnerable to false accusation. They are not as readily trusted, all else equal, with kids. That is all unjustified, but it is a pragmatic consideration for administrators. High school guidance counselors don't typically deliver up nursing as an option for male students, and certainly not in the same manner they deliver up engineering, business and and trades to female students these days.
Males, in general, are viewed as perpetrators and abusers....females, in general, as victims. Why recruit men for nursing? After all, it was men who kept women out of other professions for so many years...those bad, bad men folk. Why help bring balance.... we don't want balance, we want revenge!
Granted, that may be a silly oversimplification, but there is a hint of truth in that. We all know that.
Equality and equity are convenient truths for far too many. They are high holy ideals when they suit us. They are abstract and secondary when we need them to be so.
I want to recommend a new article that sort of bounces off the one I orignally posted here -- The cover of the Sept. 27th Newsweek magazine has the headline "Man Up: The Traditional Man Is an Endangered Species. It's Time to Rethink Masculinity." Some interesting comments related to this thread.
On page 47, they say that men will have to stop searching for outsourced manufacturing jobs and start looking toward teaching, nursing, or social-service positions. Then this:
"To hasten this transition, schools that train 'nursing professionals' should launch aggressive, male-oriented advertising campaigns and male-to-male recruiting drives that stress technical expertise, career-advancement potential, and beyond-the-bedside opportunities."
The use of the world "should" suggests to me that this isn not being done on any significant scale. They suggest that nursing schools consider raisng admission standards, which, they say, helped teh University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing increase its male-applicant pool by 34 percent over the past five years. And, the article adds this, which is significant: "And the government should fund or incentivize as many of these initiatives as it possibly can."
The article points out that, historically, token men have had less trouble entering female dominated occupations than have females in male dominated occupations. "While women in traditionally male professions suffer predictably forms of discrimination, men in women's fields actually enjoy 'structural advantages' that 'tend to enhance their careers' -- a kind of glass conveyor belt that carries tehm into the 'more masculine' areas they perceie to be a better fit for thier talents." This according to a 1992 study. That's why we see a significant number of men in nursing moving into ER and other areas like that.
Anyway -- any examples of nursing schools "aggresively" trying to recruit males into the profession?
These kinds of articles are largely sensationalistic in nature and so, over-reveal their bias - particularly with these titles that provoke images of death and extinction. It is intellectually disappointing to see the subtext, "Time to Rethink Masculinity" since I think that it does a disservice to men for them to allow outdated notions of masculinity to influence their career choices - especially when, as these articles have pointed out, we are in the midst of a major socioeconomic and cultural shift with the ushering in of the Information Age. Nothing lasts forever. Even The Roman Empire crumbled. It's a lot easier to change yourself then to try to change the world.
For men to enter nursing with a vengeance, they have to want to. And in this country as well as many others, men can pretty well do what they want. It is somewhat of an egotistical folly to also expect to be enticed and/or incentivised into entering a profession such as nursing in a socioeconomic climate where men continue to be at an advantage.
When women entered non-traditional fields, they did so with the expectation that they would have to play by men's rules (and they did) for all but the most basic human rights situations (sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work, etc.). Things like EEO and Affirmative Action came to be because women were either being kept out or pushed out. I don't see that happening to men in nursing. Men are not being kept out or pushed out - in fact (as you stated) they are being promoted faster and more consistently than women....Where's the issue?
Logically speaking, I don't see this being an issue for any man save for the type of man who ties his concept of masculinity directly to a sense of entitlement.
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
Interesting article. Maybe a little overstated. I don't see us as an endangered species, quite yet.
My school didn't do any particular affirmative action to attract men, but my instructors were happy to have 16 of us in a class of 80, a record, at the time. My facility also has no measures in place to recruit men. I am still undecided as to whether they should. I guess I'm still used to the idea that men have an unfair advantage in most fields, which the article suggests may no longer be so true.
Some of the things that attracted me to nursing, like job security and decent pay, would probably appeal to a lot of guys. Some of the things that keep some guys from considering nursing probably should. It can be a pretty nasty job, and there's a lot to put up with. One could, perhaps, interpret the example of male second-career nurses to support the article: from various industries we are "reduced" to "wiping butts." I prefer to think those of us who had to adapt have taken the initiative to learn a "profession." Personally, I'm better off financially as a nurse than I ever was, and while I do tend to put profession in quotation marks, it seems like a honorable and important occupation.
I'm happy as a nurse. I sometimes joke that I'm a carpenter with a really crappy retirement plan. Truthfully, carpentry was about as much a service job as a manufacturing job. But I do have a certain nostalgia for those jobs were I was actually making something tangible. Nursing takes plenty of creativity and problem-solving, but you don't get much opportunity to look back and say, "I made that."
Eh, well. It's something to do until I can marry a doctor and be a SAHH.