Gender Segregation

Since the beginning of time, from all accounts, there has been some form of inequality between genders in society. This has become especially true in the workplace and for some people occupational segregation may be to blame. Occupational segregation is the grouping of similar jobs at similar workplaces. Not to be confused with job segregation which looks at specific jobs within specific workplaces, occupational segregation focuses on the occupation as a whole. An example of an occupation would be middle school teacher. An example of a job would be 7th grade math teacher at Champion Middle School. We use occupation segregation in research because it is more broad and easier to get details. There are over 500

“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.

This answer can be found in your textbook, in Section 8.5, “Occupational Gender Segregation,” and in the chapter's Key Terms.

Occupations in the medical field are expected to continue growing as they have been for the past couple of decades, and the amount of female involvement still remains strong (Branin). Recent studies done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 73% of managers in the medical field are female, but only 4% of chief executive officers (CEOs) are female. That being said, over ¾ of hospital employee jobs are obtained by women and only 4% are holding high CEO positions. According to an anonymous female healthcare professional, “Gender roles continue to exist in the workplace… upper management is male dominated, making difficult to form a strong connection.” (Chase). Until both men and women are looked at equally in the workplace, they will never be equal in pay, or obtaining higher positions. Discrimination is still shown in widely in in medical field, and Jennifer Stewart, the Advisory Board managing director who oversees human resources (HR) advancement and Nursing Executive Research, says, “It’s an issue [gender roles]... Gender equality is getting closer, but it’s still a goal…” (Diamond). Women are just as qualified, if not more qualified in some cases, than men in healthcare and are still receiving the lower end of the

Nurses in the USA make up the biggest workforce of any country in the world. However nurses continue to be in short supply even with an aggressive campaign to attract foreign nurses (Brunetto et al., 2013). It is estimated that “the United States will need to have produced 1.13 million new RN’s to fill the future demand” (MeMenamin, 2014). Of the current-working nurses in the United States, “males represent approximately 7% of the nursing workforce…”(Colby, 2012). The percentage of men in nursing must improve if nursing is to become diversified. Although the number of men in the nursing profession is slowly growing, they will not have an impact on the future nursing shortage. In order for men to choose nursing over other professions, men should be exposed to the historical contributions of men in nursing, as well as changing the perception of male nurses. The lack of male representation in the field of nursing is due to “the feminization of modern day nursing by Florence Nightingale” (Colby, 2013) in the nineteenth century. Nightingale saw all women as nurses and believed that those who entered the nursing field “were doing what came naturally to them as women (Evans, 2003).” According to Evans (2003), “The failure to recognize their contributions leaves male nurses with little information about their professional background and historical position, a situation in which nurse Okrainec (1990) suggests perpetuates the notion that male nurses are anomalies.”

Today, most people perceive nursing as a women profession. Men who enter this field have been looked at as outcasts. Many individuals feel that a man does not belong in a “female” profession. I believe that statement to be untrue and unfair. The issue of gender discrimination in nursing is the same as any other professions. The only difference is nursing is dominated by women, and men are the minority fighting for equality. My goal in this paper is to help you understand why I’m arguing that men should be welcomed in the nursing profession.

Work traditionally characterized as female nursing, teaching and social work has been undervalued, both in terms of the prestige garnered to such occupations and also by their payment scales. Today, "the traditional male occupations, law and medicine, are no longer a male-only domain. Women work as doctors, lawyers, bus drivers, postal service agents, college presidents, and physicists. Men work as nurses, teachers, social workers, and house cleaners" (Stoller 2005). However, often when males and females are present even in female-dominated professions like social work, males dominate the upper ranks of management, in leadership positions that are more highly paid.

Job Segregation, is the over-representation of women in service sector jobs, such as education, healthcare, and administrative

There has been a great advancement in women’s occupations. Although women have experienced some growth, there is still a gap in gender equality. The gap is prevalent in the United States and abroad. Women can have the same qualifications, competitive attitude, and aggression as men, but still lag behind men in the workplace (Why Can’t a Women Succeed like a Man, 2009). There is more work to be done to break the glass ceiling that blocks women from reaching the top.

Nursing is a profession based around compassion and caring for patient populations in a variety of settings. In a post Florence Nightingale nursing world, a nurse’s job is deemed “feminine” with care provided by a “lady.” Although society has changed dramatically, masculine stereotypes and the core focus of nursing is almost unaltered. Male nurses total 9.6% of the workforce, making nursing one of the top ten female dominated careers in America (United States Census Board, 2013). According to O’Lynn (2013), a proponent and researcher for men in nursing, this trend is similar to most developed countries citing statistics from Australia, Canada, Iran, Israel, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Similar problems, research, and outcomes regarding male nursing exist in all countries stemming from a common cultural background. As one third of the nursing workforce faces retirement within the next 10 years, the importance of increasing a well-supplied, trained, and equal workforce becomes a priority. This report focuses on the gender-diversity issues the nursing profession places on males inside the profession. Through the exploration of nursing history, it will then delve into the most problematic issues men face in nursing before discussing the role of nursing leadership in changing this landscape.

(Benoit). Despite the increased likelihood for women to now have gainful employment, the barriers maintained by archaic practices, keep employment options disproportionate. The injustices and forms of discrimination that the woman gender most often face are those of sexual segregation and wage disparity. Though steps have been taken to lessen the disparity between genders across occupations, still the distribution among gender remains distinct. For the caring and service industries, it was demonstrated that females made up to 70% of the workforce at the time of the census (Benoit). The trend is most noticeable among nurses, health therapists and clerks. This points to the clear indication of occupational sex segregation. Though women have shown an increase in certain careers such as managerial employees, and physicians, the fields of natural sciences are still largely male-dominated (Benoit). Even for those who have made their way into such fields quickly hit a “glass ceiling”, an unofficial barrier of advancement in a profession (McKay). Simply another limitation imposed often upon them due to their gender (Benoit). What is to be learned is that this gender segregation does not limit

Acker (1998) posits, despite years of advancement and equity practices; a gendered substructure explains the persistence of male hegemony and the female disadvantage. There’s a conventional assumption of an ordinary worker to be a man without obligations outside of work that will be a means of distraction. According to a study, it was found there is significant proactivity in implementing equal opportunity strategies under the guise of ‘organisation of work and conditions of service’ (Strachan & French, 2007). Furthermore, segregation at the workplace has remained almost unchanged, despite two decades of equal employment opportunity legislation.

A man who is a nurse is singled out by the title male nurse. Men are discouraged from becoming nurses because society may view them as gay or effeminate (Genua, 2005, p.4). Men who are nurses enjoy the fast paced environment, the leadership opportunities, and they enjoy making difference in patients’ lives (Genua, 2005, p.5). If nursing attracted more men through media, advertising, and education the recruitment and retention rates may increase (Weaver et al., 2014, p.834). In addition, if the view of men in nursing changes and men are not shamed for being nurses the profession may become less skewed and there may be less chance of a nursing shortage. Men in nursing have a negative image and this image affects the profession as a whole. The image of men in nursing needs to change. Anyone is capable of providing care for another human being. We need to applaud men for their desire to assist others, not discourage

Some organizations mirror society’s idea about which group of workers are appropriate for certain types of jobs. Although hiring and promotion are supposed to be based on rational and universal criteria, they often express informal expectations about gender, race, and class of the people best suited for particular positions, producing race and gender stratified work forces. Men are thought to be more ambitious, task-oriented, and work involved; while women are considered less motivated, less committed, and more geared towards work relationships than work itself.

Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).